United Airlines: Boeing 777 plane forced to emergency land after 'hydraulic leak' spotted as it took off - the fifth Boeing incident in a week

A United Airlines Boeing 777 was forced to make an emergency landing after suffering a mid-air hydraulic leak. A video posted on social media shows the aircraft taking off from Sydney Airport in Australia with the “hydraulic leak” that can be seen on the “right main landing gear”.

The incident occurred on Monday (11 March) and the flight that was bound for San Francisco landed back safely at Sydney Airport, officials said. Flight Emergency posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Yesterday United flight UA830 was seen taking off with a hydraulic leak on the right main landing gear. Aircraft returned to Sydney and landed safely”. 

One user responded to the post saying “what is going on at United Airlines?” while another said “something wrong with the United Airlines, third incident in a row”. On Thursday 7 January a United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in California after a tyre fell off mid-flight and damaged several cars in a parking lot in San Francisco.

It is also the fifth safety incident in a week that Boeing has suffered, raising concerns. In a separate incident hours before, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Sydney to Auckland “froze” mid-air jolting passengers in their seats, reportedly sending one passenger flying headfirst into the cabin ceiling. The incident injured fifty people.  

Both incidents are now under investigation while Boeing finds itself under intense scrutiny. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the blowout on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet that occurred on 5 January shortly after the aircraft took off. 

Today (Wednesday 13 March) it has been reported that a six-week audit into Boeing and its subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems has found “dozens” of quality control problems including dish soap and hotel key cards being used on parts of planes. The audit run by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) found that mechanics working for Spirit were observed using Dawn dish soap on a door seal in place of lubricant. The seal was then reportedly cleaned up with a “wet cheesecloth.” 

The New York Times reports that Boeing failed 33 inspections carried out as part of the audit, and Spirit failed a further seven. The use of hotel keycards and Dawn dish soap in the production of a $100 million aircraft sparks even more concerns and is very alarming. A former US congressman, Peter DeFazio, previously slammed Boeing for relying on “crappy stuff” from its subcontractor. 

A spokesperson from Spirit, Joe Buccino, told the Times that the manufacturer was “reviewing” any identified issues for “corrective action.” Meanwhile the FAA has given Boeing 90 days to address shortcomings in its quality control.

A United Airlines spokesperson said: "On Monday, March 11, United flight 830 from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport to San Francisco International Airport returned to Sydney due to a maintenance issue. The plane landed safely and passengers deplaned normally at the gate. We are providing accommodation overnight for passengers and rebooking them to San Francisco tomorrow."