Passengers onboard a recent United Airlines flight between Los Angeles and London Heathrow were unexpectedly diverted to Chicago O'Hare on September 26. AvHerald reported that the captain's displays went blank as the flight management computers entered a degraded mode. Turned back over the Hudson Bay UA231 departed Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, September 26, at 13:37, almost an hour behind its scheduled departure time of 12:55.
The flight rose to its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet and quickly headed northeast towards Canada and, eventually, Europe. However, as it passed over Manitoba and Hudson Bay, the captain's primary flight and navigation displays entered a degraded mode. Given the conditions and flying with limited capabilities, the captain declared a mayday and diverted to Chicago O'Hare, United Airlines HQ, where the carrier has extensive maintenance facilities.
A look at the subtle but distinct difference between "pan-pan" and "mayday" and how they are used. Flight data and schedules were sourced in this article from Flightradar24 UA231 diverted to Chicago Using alternative navigation tools and vectors, the captain and the rest of the crew on the flight deck were able to navigate back to Chicago, passing over Ontario, Lake Superior, Michigan, and Wisconsin before landing at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), landing at 21:51 local time. Affected passengers were rebooked onto a replacement aircraft, which departed from Chicago at 01:24 on th.
