A United Airlines flight has been forced to make an emergency landing after an open door light started flashing shortly after takeoff.
United Flight 2434 landed at Tampa International Airport at 4.35pm Wednesday after taking off from Sarasota-Bradenton International at 3.42pm.
The jet had to divert to Tampa because a door indicator light turned on, according to an airport spokesperson. Fire crews responded and more than 120 passengers were evacuated from the plane.
The jet, an Airbus A319, is not the same type as the Alaska Airlines flight that made an emergency landing on Friday after its emergency door blew out at 16,000ft.
United Airlines, however, was one of two US carriers that was using the Boeing 737 MAX 9 before it was grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration.
A United Airlines flight has been forced to make an emergency landing after an open door light started flashing shortly after takeoff. Pictured: The aircraft door opened after it taxied
United Flight 2434 landed at Tampa International Airport at 4.35pm Wednesday after taking off from Sarasota-Bradenton International at 3.42pm
The plane which made an emergency landing was manufactured in 2007, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
It was bound for Chicago before it had to make an emergency landing in Tampa.
The plane remained in Tampa until shortly after 6pm when it took off again for Chicago.
It landed around 8pm local time before continuing its journey to San Francisco.
The incident comes less than a week after an Alaska Airlines flight suffered a near-catastrophic failure 16,000 feet in the air.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after departing Portland International Airport for Ontario, California on Friday when its door plug fell out.
The National Transportation Safety Board recovered the door in the backyard of a suburban home in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday.
Both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines revealed they found loose bolts inside several other door plugs on their Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircrafts.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircrafts with a plug door on Saturday.
It issued a further update on Tuesday to say they would remain grounded until it finds each can safely return to operation.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 suffered a near catastrophic failure on Friday when its door plug suddenly fell out and it was forced into an emergency landing
A Boeing subcontractor which manufactured the door plug that blew out 16,000 feet in the air during a flight was warned of an ‘excessive amount of defects,’ according to a new lawsuit
The National Transportation Safety Board recovered the door in the backyard of a suburban home in Portland on Sunday
Terrified passengers were left fearing for their lives on Friday after the door plug fell. After recovering the damaged Alaska Airlines door, NTSB said on X: ‘NTSB investigators are currently examining the door plug and will send it to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, DC, for further examination.’
Boeing shares had the biggest plunge in over a year on Monday, losing a whopping $13.5billion off its value in the first day of trading after the mid-air Alaska Airlines blowout.
‘We are committed to ensuring every Boeing airplane meets design specifications and the highest safety and quality standards,’ a Boeing spokesperson said.
The near disaster saw Boeing Corp shares plummet 8.6 percent – from 248 to 228 – between Friday evening and Monday morning. The stock continued to plunge after the market opened, reaching 226 – and analysts warned it is expected to continue falling until the aircrafts are back in service.
Alaska Air’s shares fell 4.3 percent, while United Airlines shares, the other U.S. carrier that operates the jet, dropped 2.4 percent, in the aftermath of the incident.