A United 787-10 has been forced to return home only two hours into its journey after a suspected fuel leak was detected by the cockpit. The aircraft was able to make it back to its origin in New York, but at the cost of severely delaying passengers.

What are the details?

United Flight UA-23, was flying from New York's Newark airport en route to Dublin, Ireland when the cabin crew detected a possible fuel leak onboard, as reported by The Aviation Herald.

With the aircraft currently flying above rural Canada (specifically L350 about 30nm southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland), it was decided that that best course of action would be to turn around and head back to New York. Options were available for the aircraft to either continue on to Dublin, return to New York or to land immediately.

As the fuel leak hadn't been confirmed yet and wouldn't be until the aircraft landed, it is possible that it could have made it to the final destination of Dublin. But crossing the north Atlantic tracks would have been perilous as the aircraft would have nowhere to land.

But landing immediately was also not entirely necessary. The fuel leak was slow, and those on board were not in any immediate danger (like a fire or a loss of power). Landing in a rural area of Canada would have caused more problems than returning back to New York.

Thus, the pilots took the best course of action and the aircraft landed safely back in New York, five hours after it began the journey. This is particularly intriguing as the normal flight time for this route is actually around six hours, so it looks like the aircraft could have actually made it had it gone ahead (but we commend the crew for not risking any lives).

What has been the airline's response?

Simple Flying contacted United, and they gave us this statement.

United flight 23 heading from Newark to Dublin on October 1 returned to Newark due to a mechanical issue. The flight landed safely and without incident, and we rebooked our customers to their final destination.

The United 787-10 fits 44 business class seats, 21 premium economy, and 253 economy, passengers. The economy cabin is also only nine across compared to 10 on the United 777-300ER.

The aircraft also features United's Polaris cabin, which includes a flatbed seat designed for sleep with 1 that extends to 6 feet and 6 inches in bed mode (78 inches of the pitch when in seat mode), plus a 16-inch screen and bedding designed by Saks Fifth Avenue (two pillows, bed sheet, light sheet, and duvet). Each seat has direct aisle access, although every second row has far more privacy and is closer to windows thanks to an offset layout.

This is not the first time that there has been an incident with a United 787. Previously this year a United 787-10 cabin filled with smoke and just over a year ago, a United 787 had a fuel leak inbound to Sydney (but managed to make it there just in time).

What do you think? Should have the aircraft turned around? Let us know in the comments.