A United Airlines Boeing 777-200 was forced to make an emergency diversion back to Rome Fiumicino International Airport just 30 minutes after departure from the Italian city after passengers heard a bang and saw a streak of flames from one of the plane’s two engines.
Flight UA885 departed Rome bound for Washington Dulles at around 11:20 am on Thursday and had climbed to a maximum altitude of just 3,700 feet when the left-hand Pratt & Witney engine suffered a compressor stall.
The pilots continued climbing to around 4,000 feet and entered a brief hold off the coast of central Italy before making an emergency landing back at FCO airport. Once on the ground, passengers onboard the plane say the aircraft was met by five fire trucks as well as police cars.
Rather than taxiing to a gate with a jetty, eyewitnesses say ground staff positioned air stairs to expedite the deplaning of everyone onto waiting buses.
The aircraft, which is nearly a…
