A United Airlines Boeing 787-900 jet was diverted to the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Monday after reports of smoke coming from the cockpit, a local official told AFP.
The US aircraft flying 256 passengers from Melbourne, Australia, to Los Angeles, touched down safely at La Tontouta airport in New Caledonia’s capital Noumea.
“The passengers are disembarking calmly,” said the official from the local Chamber of Commerce which runs the airport.
“It seems that there was some smoke coming out of the cockpit.” An Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people on March 10 led to the global grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes.
