Another flight to nowhere after a disruptive passenger sent a London-bound United plane back to Newark
The Boeing 767 turned around off Nova Scotia and spent hours back in New Jersey before successfully arriving in the UK 12 hours behind schedule.
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- A United Airlines flight turned back to Newark after 90 minutes.
- It's the latest example of a flight to nowhere, where flights return to their origin.
- Passengers eventually made it to London 12 hours later than scheduled.
United Airlines passengers faced a 12-hour delay after their transatlantic trip became a flight to nowhere.
Saturday's flight from Newark to London was in the air for about 90 minutes when it U-turned just off the coast of Nova Scotia, per data from FlightAware.
The flight-tracking website shows that after landing back in New Jersey around 2:30 a.m. ET, the Boeing 767 didn't take off again for nearly five more hours.
Flight UA940 ultimately made it to London Heathrow at 7.29 p.m. local time on Sunday — 12 hours and 5 minutes after it was initially scheduled.
In a statement shared with Business Insider, a United Airlines spokesperson said the flight returned to Newark "to address a disruptive passenger."
The statement added that law enforcement removed the passenger before the flight continued to London that morning.
One Reddit user who said they were on the flight said the plane turned around after a business-class passenger threatened the aircraft's security.
They added that the delay at Newark was compounded by the flight crew reaching their maximum time on the clock, so new staff had to be brought in from standby.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by BI outside US working hours.
Returning all the way to Newark rather than landing at a nearer airport in Canada might initially seem a strange decision, but so-called flights to nowhere are not uncommon. Going back to an airline's hub airport usually means it's simpler to reroute passengers and solve any issues.
There have been several flights to nowhere in recent weeks.
Last month, a Delta Air Lines plane turned back over the coast of Newfoundland after the crew observed a potential engine issue.
Then, a KLM flight U-turned over the Atlantic Ocean and headed back to Amsterdam in a four-hour flight to nowhere as a precaution due to a technical malfunction.
