A United Airlines flight from Johannesburg to Newark had declared an emergency and is diverting.
The flight UA187 departed Johannesburg terminal A, gate A11 at 21:18 SAST tonight for a flight to Newark Liberty International Airport, scheduled to land at 7:35 am.
The flight, operated by a Boeing 787-9has turned around off African coast and the crew declared a general emergency (squawk 7700) about 2 hours and 30 minutes into the flight.
The Dreamliner with registration N24973 is a 7 years old aircraft. The airline has a total of 74 Boeing 787s, including -8, -9 and -10 versions.
UPDATE 00:05 (GMT +2)
The flight UA187 is returning to Johannesburg. The airline is indicating a technical issue on the plane with a new estimated departure 4 hours late.
