United Airlines Airbus A320 Faces Hydraulic Issue, Makes Emergency Landing in Los Angeles

A United Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after the aircraft experienced a hydraulic system issue.

On March 8 at 1:10 p.m. local time, flight UA 821 departed San Francisco International Airport (SFO) for Mexico City International Airport (MEX). UA821 was operated by an Airbus A320-200 with 105 passengers and crew aboard. After taking off and crossing the Mexican border, an issue with hydraulic systems forced UA 821 to divert to Los Angeles. 

The aircraft landed without further incident, and passengers disembarked normally at a gate. The aircraft involved is N485UA, an Airbus A320-232. It was delivered new to United in December 2001 and was operated by Ted for five years, from 2004 to 2009, with the same registration. N485UA has flown with United since Ted was re-integrated into the carrier in January 2009. The aircraft was not involved in any major incidents or accidents until now.

A United representative released this statement when AeroXplorer reached out for more information:

“On Friday evening, United flight 821 from San Francisco International Airport to Mexico City International Airport was diverted to Los Angeles International Airport due to an issue with the aircraft's hydraulic system. The flight landed safely and passengers were deplaned normally at the gate. Customers are currently traveling to MEX on a new aircraft.”
 
"This aircraft type has three hydraulic systems for redundancy purposes. Preliminary information shows there was only an issue with one system on this aircraft."

UA821 is the fourth incident involving a United aircraft this week. UA1118 had its engine burst into flames while taking off on March 6, and a tire came off of UA35 while taking off from San Francisco on March 7. On the morning of March 8, UA2477 veered off the runway after landing at Houston.