A United Airlines flight bound for Tokyo is returning to Washington Dulles International Airport shortly after takeoff this evening following a reported engine fire.
United Flight 803 (UA803), a Boeing 777-200 aircraft scheduled for service from Washington Dulles to Tokyo Haneda (HND), experienced the incident immediately after leaving the ground. Reports indicate that the aircraft suffered an engine fire on takeoff.
Following the incident, the aircraft was observed maneuvering over the Fredericksburg area to dump fuel, a critical safety procedure used to reduce the plane’s weight to a safe level before attempting an emergency landing.
Simultaneously, the incident on the ground sparked a separate emergency, with fire crews at Dulles actively working to extinguish large brush fires along Runway 1C, presumably ignited by debris or flames resulting from the engine failure during the departure roll.
The Boeing 777 is expected to complete its fuel dumping procedure shortly and will be making an emergency return landing on runway 1R at Dulles International Airport.
UPDATE 1:20 PM
The aircraft (registration N78004) has landed on runway 1R, followed by emergency vehicles.
UPDATE 1:28 PM
The Boeing 777 is being inspected at end of the runway.
UPDATE 1:53 PM
Flight operations still halted on runways 1C and 1R.
