Amsterdam-Bound United Airlines Boeing 767 Diverts To St. John's Amid Alleged Engine Shutdown

Louis is a military historian and the staff writer for History of War magazine, a leading military history monthly. He also has an interest in private and commercial aviation.

In the early hours of this morning, a United Airlines Boeing 767 operating flight UA-946 was forced to divert to St. John's International Airport (YYT) in Newfoundland, Canada. This aircraft had taken off from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and was en route to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS).

The flight crew declared an emergency before making the diversion. The airline has said this was due to an "engine issue" with one of the 767's Pratt & Whitney PW4060. According to Aviation Herald, the aircraft arrived at St. John's with one engine shut down.

The Incident

The UA-946 Boeing 767-300ERwas flying at 37,000 feet (11,300 m). It had taken off from Washington at 3:35 PM and was scheduled for landing in Amsterdam at 7:35 AM. The jet, with 122 passengers and nine crew members onboard, was positioned around 370 nautical miles (685 km) east of St John's when it descended to around 26,000 feet (7,920 m) following an issue with one of its engines.

After executing the descent, the crew members declared an emergency. They then diverted to St John's. The 767 made a safe landing at the airport's runway 28 around 90 minutes later. Given the aircraft's position on the wrong side of the Atlantic, it is unsurprising that today's scheduled return flight at 11:15 am from Amsterdam has been canceled.

Simple Flying contacted United Airlines for a comment. Although they made no mention of the alleged engine shutdown, they gave the following statement:

"United flight 946 from Washington Dulles to Amsterdam diverted to St. John’s International Airport on Sunday to address an engine issue. The plane landed safely, and passengers deplaned normally. We arranged overnight hotel accommodations for our customers and are sending a different aircraft to take them to Amsterdam."

PW4060: The Engine With The Problem

The engine involved in this incident was the PW4060, which is the exclusive powerplant for United's 767-300ER. The table below shows key specifications for the PW4000 series, including data from the FAA on the -94 variant that powers the 767-300ER:

Pratt & Whitney first ran the PW4000 engine series in April 1984. It was the successor to the JT9D and entered into operational service in June 1987. This engine series, rated from 50,000 to 99,040 lbf (222 to 441 kN) is ideal for widebody workhorse jets. Other aircraft using this engine family include the Airbus A330 and McDonnell Douglas MD-11.

Another United Airlines Boeing Aircraft Had To Divert Recently

Diversions due to aircraft issues are an essential part of an airline's safe operations, so it is easy to find other examples where United Airlines has used this practice to keep its passengers and crew safe. One example is a recent Boeing 757 diversion due to a fuel odor in the cabin.

The United Airlines jet had taken off from Dublin Airport (DUB) and was bound for Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). Crew members decided to turn around shortly after the jet climbed to 31,000 feet (9,500). They returned to the Irish capital but did not have a safe opportunity to dump fuel and had only been in the skies for 53 minutes. As a result, the crew advised air traffic control that they would have to make an overweight landing.

The 757 touched down at 3:03 PM local time. Several paramedics arrived on the apron to assist any crewmembers and passengers who had been affected by the jet fuel odor. The flight was then canceled and United Airlines booked the passengers onto alternative flights.