A transatlantic jet from London was forced to divert to Dublin after a passenger’s laptop slipped down the side of a business class seat.
United Airlines Flight UA925 from Heathrow to Washington Dulles International Airport made the unscheduled landing in Ireland due to a safety risk posed by the trapped item on November 19.
Maintenance crews retrieved and inspected the device
The flight eventually continued its journey over the Atlantic with 100 passengers and 10 crew on board, landing in Washington five hours behind schedule at 1.22am.
FlightAware data shows the Boeing 767-400 had departed west London at 4.19pm before being diverted to the Irish capital two hours later, the Independent reported.
A United spokeswoman told the Standard: “On November 19, United flight 925 safely landed in Dublin as a precaution to retrieve a customer’s laptop that had fallen in between the seat and the side wall.
“Maintenance crews retrieved the laptop, inspected the aircraft and the flight later departed for Washington Dulles.”
Lithium-ion batteries in laptops are a risk on planes, as damaged, overheated or defective devices can cause a fires.
Diverting is standard procedure on transatlantic flights when a lithium battery-powered device is stuck in a seat.
In October, a United Airlines flight to Italy was forced to return to the US after a passenger’s laptop dropped through the cabin into the cargo hold.
The laptop was turned on and fell “behind a cabin wall panel and through a small gap leading to the cargo hold” where it could not be accessed, the airline said at the time.
