UAL05 787 returning to LHR

[kuningan]

From Flightradar24:

Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker! (http://www.flightradar24.com/UAL5/489b7a0)

Looks like they took their time making their minds up over Bristol

[cad99uk]

Yes, saw it dumping fuel north of Bristol.

[kuningan]

According to:

https://planefinder.net/flight/UAL5/time/2014-10-10T13:00:00%20UTC#

Never got above 9'000 feet.......

[airsound]

United are sayingThe flight returned to Heathrow and landed safely following a possible lightning strike. Our maintenance team is currently inspecting the aircraft.Heathrow said it was treated as an emergency, now stood down.

Looking at the met office rainfall radar maps, there doesn't seem to be any activity around where it turned back. But what would they know.....

Edited to add:

Actually, it looks as if it might have flown through a fairly hefty band of Cb not long after take-off, which was at 1257Z. They then flew on for about 16 mins before turning back, and, as kuningan suggests, not getting above 9,000ft.

airsound

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<Looks like they took their time making their minds up over Bristol>>

Perhaps you should contact the crew with some suggestions?

[KelvinD]

I hope they did a good job with the vinegar & brown paper (or whatever is used on composite materials) as this aircraft is due back at Heathrow tomorrow.

Edit: Seems the vinegar & brown paper may not have worked as the aircraft has now been substituted today