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A United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing due to a door indicator light being turned on, a Tampa International Airport spokesperson announced Wednesday (January 10) via WFLA.
United Flight 2434, which departed from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport at 3:42 p.m. ET and scheduled to land in Chicago, was rerouted to Tampa, where it landed at around 4:35 p.m. ET, according to data on the flight tracking website FlightAware.
“You don’t ignore lights and you don’t attempt to reset them and say, well, maybe it’s just a sensor,” said John Cox, an aviation expert and a former captain via WFLA.
Cox said the light coming on may not seem like a big deal to many, but needs to be taken seriously.
“There’s a procedure that you follow, that is in the checklist, the abnormal checklist, and you follow that procedure, and you go ahead, and you pick a diversion airport and go land there,” Cox said via WFLA.
Cox said the crew's decision to divert the flight wasn't surprising, but posed an uncommon travel threat.
“I’ve probably, in a 25-year career as an airline pilot, I’ve might of have five or six, something like that,” he added, noting the difficulties of finding a new location during a diversion situation. “You need to advise air traffic control, you need to advise the company so they can have a gate for you, they can have maintenance wait for you."
The plane eventually resumed its scheduled flight pattern to Chicago, taking off at 6:11 p.m. ET and landing at 7:56 CST, according to FlightAware.