A United Airlines flight from Sarasota, Florida, made an emergency landing at the next-closest airport after an “open door” indicator light illuminated Wednesday, less than a week after the shocking mid-flight Alaska Airlines door plug blow-out.
United Flight 2434 was heading to Chicago when the light came on, causing the pilots to alert dispatchers and reroute the plane to Tampa, according to a spokesperson for the airport.
The plane departed Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport at 3:42 p.m. and was diverted to Tampa International Airport, where it landed safely at 4:35 p.m., according to flight tracking website Flight Aware.
The aircraft — carrying 123 passengers and five crew members — made the emergency landing “as a precaution this afternoon to address a possible mechanical issue,” a United spokesperson told The Post.
The airline did not immediately specify whether the issue in question was related to an “open door” light, but a Tampa International Airport spokesperson said its dispatchers received a call referencing exactly that when runway space was requested for the emergency landing.
United Airlines is one of the two American companies that operate Boeing 737 MAX 9 jetliners — like the one that lost its door plug in the air on Friday.
But the plane that was diverted to Tampa Wednesday was an Airbus A319.
The FAA has grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes “until operators complete enhanced inspections which include both left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components, and fasteners.”
Both United and Alaska Airlines have discovered loose hardware on a few of their planes within their fleet of MAX 9s.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon, was forced to make a dramatic emergency landing last Friday after a door plug flew off and left a gaping hole in the side of the plane at 16,000 feet in the air.
The rapid depressurization sucked a teenager’s shirt right off his back as well as seat headrests and other passengers’ belongings including cellphones — some of which landed in people’s backyards.
Miraculously, none of the 171 passengers and six crew members were seriously injured.
