United B787-9 Diverts to Chicago With Flight Management Computer Problem

A United Airlines B787-9 enroute from Los Angeles to London diverted to Chicago after reporting flight management computer problems on 26 September.

The United Airlines Boeing 787-9 en route from Los Angeles, CA to London diverted to Chicago due to a technical issue on 26 September 2024.

United Airlines flight UA231, a Boeing 787-9 out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), was en route to London over Hudson Bay when the issue was reported.

United Airlines UA231 Los Angeles-London

Flight track of United Airlines UA231 from Los Angeles to London showing diversion to Chicago.

According to the Transportation Board of Canada (TSB), flight crew reported that the captain’s primary flight display (PFD) and navigation display (ND) were going blank.

In association with the flight deck display problem, the aircraft’s flight management computers were entering a degraded mode with limited capabilities. This rendered lateral navigation impossible, whilst aircraft heading and flight track mode was still available.

From cruising flight, flight crew elected to carry out a precautionary diversion to Chicago O’Hare airport (ORD). A flight track adjustment to the south was then carried out.

Assisted by ATC vectors, the aircraft was able to land without further incident on a runway 10C Chicago O’Hare. The landing at the diversion airport took place approximately 2 hours after the diversion was made.

Flight Details

Flight data shows that the flight UA231 had made its departure out of Los Angeles International Airport. Time of departure was logged as 1328 local time on 26 September. The flight had initially proceeded normally. Flight crew set course and climbed to flight level FL350 (35,000 feet) for the transatlantic service to London.

The diversion to Chicago was made from cruising altitude whilst transiting Hudson Bay, Canada en route.

Mark Harkin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The aircraft conducting the UA231 service to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) was a Boeing 787-9, registered N27958. This is a 9.1 year old wide-body aircraft belonging to the carrier United Airlines. It has been operational service with the airline since its initial delivery from the factory in September 2015.