United Airlines Flight Carrying 138 Passengers Suffers Engine Failure Mid-Air

A United Airlines flight made an emergency landing on Wednesday after one of its engines reportedly shut down mid-air.

United Airlines Flight 575, which was travelling from Charlotte to Houston, was forced to divert and land in Atlanta. While the aircraft landed safely at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it would investigate the matter.

"United Airlines Flight 575 landed safely at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport around 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Jan. 31 after the crew reported a possible engine issue. The Boeing 737 took off from Charlotte, North Carolina, and was headed to Houston, Texas. The FAA will investigate," read FAA's statement.

There were around 138 passengers onboard the plane, registered as N76528 and was operating as UA575.

The flight quickly gained altitude and speed, making it to its cruising altitude of 30,000 feet just 15 minutes after takeoff.

Flight UA575 was headed southwest, crossing over the South Carolina and Georgia border, at 450 miles per hour. As per flight data, only nine minutes after getting to its cruising altitude, the jet started to descend about 3,000 feet in about two minutes.

The plane was about 50 nautical miles (57 miles) east of Atlanta, passing through 27,000 feet as its speed decreased significantly, dipping to around 278 miles per hour at 22,000 feet, according to The Aviation Herald. After rerouting to Atlanta, the aircraft was already at around 18,000 feet, prompting the crew to fly an unusual pattern to descend further.

The United Airlines flight crew reported the loss of the plane's left CFM56 engine. In a statement to Simple Flying on Wednesday, United confirmed the incident, citing a "mechanical issue".

"United Flight 575 from Charlotte, N.C. to Houston diverted to Atlanta due to a mechanical issue. The flight landed safely, and the passengers deplaned normally. We arranged for a different aircraft to take customers to their destination, which has since arrived in Houston," read the statement.

Upon landing in Atlanta, the flight crew reportedly asked the emergency services to inspect the left engine. It is also being speculated that the cause of the engine shutdown was due to "loss of engine oil".

The backup aircraft departed at 10:49 AM from Atlanta and arrived in Houston at 11:59 local time, which was three hours and 39 minutes after the flight's scheduled arrival time.

This comes just after a United Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing due to a cracked windshield. The incident happened on a flight that was travelling from Las Vegas to Washington DC on Sunday (Jan. 28).