A United Airlines Boeing 757-200
with registration N12125 was forced to return to Denver on October 2, 2024, shortly after takeoff due to a hydraulic failure
. The 26.7-year-old narrowbody jet aircraft departed for a scheduled flight to Lihue, Hawaii (LIH) but could not proceed due to a mid-flight issue.

No passengers or crew members were reported injured, and the flight crew safely returned to Denver after identifying the technical problem.

United Airlines 757-200 on final approach
Photo: GingChen | Shutterstock

Photo: GingChen | Shutterstock

Incident details

The flight, UA2307, departed Denver International Airport
at 14:13 local time, already delayed from its scheduled 12:00 departure. Shortly after, as the plane climbed to approximately 28,000 feet, the flight crew reported a hydraulic failure and several other technical issues.

According to The Aviation Herald, a passenger reported that the captain mentioned several system faults, such as issues with some autopilot operations, related to the hydraulic breakdown. As a result of these many problems, the decision was made to immediately cancel the trip to Hawaii and head back to Denver. Despite the technical difficulties, the skilled flight crew managed to land the aircraft safely on Denver’s runway 34R, approximately 30 minutes after its initial departure.

In August, another United B757 experienced the same issue and was diverted to Honolulu.

History of the aircraft

The Boeing 757-200 involved in the incident, registered as N12125, was delivered to United Airlines in 1998 and has been in service for over 26 years. It is part of the airline’s aging fleet of Boeing 757s, many of which have been scheduled for replacement as United modernizes its fleet with more fuel-efficient and technologically advanced aircraft.

According to FlightAware’s flight history, aircraft N12125 was scheduled to depart Denver for Newark on October 3, operating as flight UA2345. The aircraft took off at 6:00 local time and arrived in Newark around 11:30.

United Airlines Boeing 757-200

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Recent incidents involving the same aircraft

This recent incident follows another event involving the same Boeing 757-200 aircraft, N12125, just weeks earlier. On September 19, 2024, this same aircraft was involved in a serious incident while operating United Airlines flight UA2428 from Newark to San Francisco. According to a Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) report, the flight crew responded to a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) resolution advisory while cruising over Wyoming.

The maneuvers executed to comply with the collision avoidance advisory resulted in injuries to two passengers. One passenger sustained serious injuries, while another received minor injuries. The specifics of these injuries were not disclosed, but the FAA categorized the event as an accident, indicating the severity of the situation.

Additionally, in September 2021, this aircraft was reported to have sustained tail strike damage during a post-flight inspection in Newark. The NTSB
confirmed no injuries to passengers and crew, but the aircraft suffered significant damage. In the final report released on July 23, 2022, the NTSB concluded that the accident’s probable cause was the nose-high attitude on landing, which resulted in the tailstrike.

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