An investigation is underway after another United Airlines jet, bound for SFO, had to turn around midflight because of a mechanical issue.
Just 10 seconds after flight 830 from Sydney to San Francisco took the air, video by plane spotter New York Aviation got clear images of fluid spewing from the plane -- it looks like it was coming from the rear right landing gear.
The crew of the Boeing 777-300 jet continued over the ocean for a while before turning around.
Video from a passenger shows the crew dumping fuel before landing.
The plane landed safely back at the airport in Sydney, with no injuries, but a lot of questions.
United Airlines has been dealing with a series of issues with its flights over the last couple of weeks. But this incident in Sydney is now the third involving a technical issue with one of its planes in just the last few days.
Last Thursday, a wheel fell off a rear landing gear just as a United 777-200 took off from San Francisco headed to Japan. That wheel smashed onto two cars in an employee parking lot.
And on Friday, a United Airbus 320 heading from SFO to Mexico City had to re-route to Los Angeles because of a hydraulic issue.
"Why are these things happening? Considering all of them seem to be tied to San Francisco. The airbus hydraulic issue, the wheel issue on the 777 and now this one,” said Douglas Rice, retired airline pilot. “All three aircraft either originate or terminate in San Francisco."
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A statement from a United spokesperson says each incident will be investigated individually, along with federal regulators.
"Each of these events is distinct and unrelated to one another. Safety is our top priority, and we'll continue to do everything we can to keep our customers and employees safe,” read the statement in part.
But Rice raised another concern about the way the Sydney incident was handled -- pointing out that video shows the rear landing gear had smoke coming off of it when it landed.
Fire crews inspected it before the plane taxied to the terminal on its own power.
"The crew should have stopped the airplane on the runway, had a tug come out, and been pulled to the gate with the fire department following it,” said Rice.
According to a passenger on board, they exited safely, and were given hotel rooms to stay overnight and are boarding a return flight Monday.
Read United Airlines' full statement bellow:
"We maintain all of our aircraft in accordance with United’s FAA-approved maintenance program. We take every safety event seriously and will investigate each incident to understand what happened and learn from it. Much of this work is conducted together with the manufacturers, the FAA, and the NTSB, as well as with the manufacturers of individual components. While this work is ongoing, each of these events is distinct and unrelated to one another. Safety is our top priority, and we’ll continue to do everything we can to keep our customers and employees safe."
