On November 25th, a United Airlines Boeing 767-400 was roughly two hours into a transatlantic journey from Newark to Barcelona when the crew reported the presence of smoke in the cabin. The decision was made to divert to the nearest suitable airport.

Flight and incident details

All set to perform flight UA120 from Newark Liberty (EWR) to Barcelona's El Prat Airport (BCN), a United Airlines Boeing 767-400 registered N66051 took off at 19:52 local time.

According to The Aviation Herald, the aircraft was enroute at FL360, about 220nm south-southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland (YYT) in Canada when smoke was detected in the cabin. It was then decided that the flight should divert to St. John's, with pilots requesting an ILS approach to runway 29. A safe landing was performed on runway 29, approximately 30 minutes after pilots initiated a diversion.

The aircraft vacated runway 29 and taxied to the apron where it was met by emergency services. The Aviation Herald also notes that firefighters inspected the aircraft but found no fire, heat, or smoke.

United Airlines flight path
Photo: FlightRadar24.com

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Replacement aircraft dispatched

A replacement aircraft was dispatched by United Airlines to collect passengers left stranded in St. John's. This 'rescue' aircraft is another Boeing 767-400. Registered N69063, the jet will continue the journey onwards to Barcelona, albeit in a seemingly roundabout manner. Interestingly, FlightRadar24.com notes that the replacement jet didn't directly fly affected passengers from St. John's to Barcelona. Instead, the aircraft flew back to Newark as flight UA3028 before resuming service to Barcelona (UA3029).

As for the incident aircraft, it will remain in St John's but eventually be ferried back to Newark Liberty.

A Continental 767-400 on the taxiway.
Photo: Aero Icarus via Wikimedia Commons

About the incident aircraft

The incident aircraft is a Boeing 767-400 registered N66051 that is now nearly 22 and a half years old. With MSN 29446 and Line Number 799, the jet was first delivered to Continental Airlines in August of 2000. The aircraft was originally configured with 35 seats in business class and 200 in economy. Then, in 2012, N66051 was reconfigured to seat 39 in business and 203 in economy.

AeroInside notes that the aircraft has had a few incidents over its 22-year career. On March 20th, 2014, the aircraft reported "minor technical problems" flying out of Zurich en route to Washington. The aircraft made the decision to return to Zurich as a result. The jet would go on to experience two separate incidents with bleed air issues. The first of these took place in July 2015, resulting in a rejected take-off at Washington Dulles. The second bleed air-related incident took place more recently, on March 13th, 2022. This prompted the crew to stop its climb and return to the origin airport (Newark).

What do you think of this incident? Have you flown on a United Airlines (or Continental) Boeing 767-400 before? Share your experiences by leaving a comment.

Simple Flying reached out to United Airlines for comment, asking specifically about the itinerary of the replacement aircraft. However, the airline did not respond before the time of publication.

Sources: Planespotters.net, The Aviation Herald, FlightRadar24.com, AeroInside