A Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner operated by United Airlines on a flight from Denver to Tokyo made an unscheduled landing in Seattle because of an apparent problem with an oil filter on an engine.
The aircraft landed "normally and without incident," United, a unit of United Continental Holdings Inc. said.
Perry Cooper, a spokesman for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, said emergency and fire personnel met the plane when it landed but determined there was no fire or other immediate threat, and left the issue to United's mechanics.
"There's no worry from our end," he said. "There's nothing visibly wrong with it."
There was no indication the incident was related to problems with the Dreamliner's lithium-ion batteries that prompted global regulators in mid-January to ground the jets for three months. Boeing received approval from regulators for a package of fixes designed to ensure the battery system's safety, which it installed on all Dreamliners in service before they resumed flights starting in late April.
Smaller-scale problems are common with new airplane models like the Dreamliner, which first entered commercial service in late 2011.
A Boeing spokeswoman shortly after the incident said the company was aware of the event and was "engaged with United to provide any support required." She said Boeing was also coordinating with General Electric Co. which makes the engines on United's Dreamliners.
United said flight 139 from Denver to Tokyo's Narita airport "diverted to Seattle due to an indication of a problem with an oil filter." The airline said it is working to accommodate the flight's passengers.
The plane took off from Denver International Airport at 3:19 p.m. EDT, about 45 minutes late. The aircraft flew past Seattle into Canada and then turned around. It landed at Seattle-Tacoma around 7:15 p.m. EDT, according to FlightAware.com, a flight-tracking website.
United launched the Denver-to-Tokyo service on June 10 after a lengthy delay. It is the first-ever nonstop service between the two cities, and one of the routes that the 787 makes financially feasible because the Dreamliner has long range for an aircraft its size.
—Jason Dean contributed to this article.
Source: http://online.wsj.com
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