United Airlines canceled 167 of their Boeing 737 Max 9 flights on Wednesday after a door panel flew off the same type of jet on an Alaska Airlines flight last week. But that didn't stop an alarming mechanical issue from happening on another type of United plane, which made an emergency landing later in the day.
A United Airbus flight heading to Chicago from Sarasota, Florida made a quick diversion after a light signaling that a door was open began to flash. Fortunately, the door was actually not open, but it was enough to turn around the plane — carrying 123 passengers — which landed at Tampa International Airport.
"You don't ignore lights and you don't attempt to reset them and say, well, maybe it's just a sensor," said aviation expert John Cox, via WFLA. "There's a procedure that you follow that is in the checklist — the abnormal checklist — and you follow that procedure, and you go ahead, and you pick a diversion airport and go land there."
From WFLA:
A door light coming on may not seem like a big deal, but Cox said it needs to be taken seriously. …
According to the retired captain, the fact that the crew made the diversion is not surprising, but this type of light coming on is not part of everyday travel.
"I've probably, in a 25-year career as an airline pilot, I've might of have five or six, something like that," Cox stated.
Diverting a plan is not as simple as just choosing another place to land, according to Cox.
"You need to advise air traffic control, you need to advise the company so they can have a gate for you, they can have maintenance wait for you," he said.
Fortunately nobody was injured and, after the plane was checked out, the flight left TPA for Chicago in the early evening.
