A United flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Rome (FCO) was diverted two times in a row, and a third flight was canceled, all in a time period of 3 days. All three flights were to be operated as United Flight 507.

First Flight: Diverted to Sacramento (SMF)

The first flight to be diverted landed at Sacramento International Airport (SMF), one hour after taking off. The flight was operated using a Boeing 777-200ER with registration N204UA. There were 148 passengers on board.

United told news that the reason was due to a mechanical issue regarding the engine. One of the passengers stated that a flight attendant said one engine was overheating, and that they had to divert to a nearby airport.

The Boeing 777 landed at Sacramento without further incident, and is still on the ground at Sacramento at the time of writing. It seems like a Boeing 737 MAX 9 carried passengers back to San Francisco Airport 3 hours and 30 minutes after landing at Sacramento.

Second Flight: Diverted to Edmonton (YEG)

The second flight to be diverted landed at Edmonton International Airport in Canada, 5 hours and 50 minutes after takeoff. The flight was operated using another Boeing 777-200ER, registered as N57016. There were 256 passengers and 14 crew members on board.

United reported that the reason for the diversion was due to a medical emergency, as a passenger onboard was in need of medical attention. This explains why the flight made a lengthy diversion to a farther airport, rather than landing immediately at a nearby diversion airport.

Approximately 1 hour after landing at Edmonton, the 777 took off again, but not to Rome, returning to its origin at San Francisco International Airport at 3:22AM local time. The aircraft took its day off on the 15th due to the flight not making it to Rome for obvious reasons, and is planned to fly to Tokyo-Haneda today on August 16th.

United stated that passengers on board were rebooked on United Flight 3035, operated by yet another Boeing 777-200ER, registered as N216UA. UA3035 took off at 5:25 PM local time later that day, more than 12 hours after the passengers landed at their origin. The flight landed at Rome without incident.

Third Flight: Canceled

The third flight that was supposed to depart on August 15th was canceled. While the flight was supposed to be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER registered as N226UA, after it was canceled the 777 instead flew to Zurich. It is currently on its way home operating the return flight at time of writing.

Interestingly, this aircraft was involved in an incident earlier this year in March when one of the tires fell off after takeoff at San Francisco International Airport for Japan, damaging several cars on the ground. The aircraft diverted to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) safely.

According to a United spokesperson, the flight was canceled "so that we could use the crew and aircraft for the extra section that was added for later today".

Currently at time of writing, there are no more flight cancelations or delays for the San Francisco to Rome flight. UA507 is estimated to depart SFO for FCO on time at 4:30PM local time today, on August 16th.