A United Airlines 757 made a U-turn over the Pacific Ocean and began to return to Los Angeles International Airport today, because smoke was reported in the cockpit.
City firefighters were sent to the airport’s southern runway complex just after 11 a.m., on a report that the plane, with 147 people on board, would land at LAX at about 11:33 a.m. The plane had not arrived by that time, as the fire department continued to move trucks and ambulances into place.
The fire department was then called off from the response, but sent back to the runway at 11:18 p.m.
A spokesperson from United’s corporate headquarters did not immediately respond to a request for information.
But fire department radio transmissions said the flight had originated at LAX and was headed to Hawaii before the Boeing jet was turned back to the Mainland.
Selected LAFD units from across western Los Angeles were rushed to the airport, as firefighters put into action plans that are often rehearsed, according to LAFD radio transmissions.
A command post was set up on Imperial Highway at Main Street, west of Sepulveda Boulevard and north of El Segundo.
The Runway 7L assignment indicated the plane would be landing from the west, on the northern-most runway on the southern LAX runway complex.
