An Alaska Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that was operating a transatlantic flight from Rome to Seattle safely returned to its departure airport on July 19 following an in-flight emergency declared by the crew over Europe.
Flight AS181 departed from Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) at around 15:45 CEST en route to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
The plane, which was a Boeing 787-9 aircraft registered N780HA, was on one of the non-stop flights that had been recently introduced by Alaska Airlines. According to flight-tracking data, the flight proceeded without any problems; the plane climbed to an altitude of 34,000 feet as it passed over France. However, two hours after the flight, it started its descent to 25,000 feet above the UK.
Near the Atlantic coast, the crew issued a general emergency by setting the transponder to squawk 7700 while near the Atlantic coast. The aircraft then performed maneuvers consistent with fuel dumping over open water to lessen the weight before making its way back towards Rome.
Later, the airline confirmed that the aircraft met an engine vibration indication due to which it was landed immediately after the issue was identified.
The aircraft landed safely on runway 16R at FCO at around 21:15 CEST, after over five and a half hours in the air. The emergency services were on standby just in case, and there were no reports of any injuries sustained by the passengers and crew members.
The plane is currently under engineering inspection to investigate what caused the incident. The airline company made provision for a replacement plane to transport the passengers to Seattle.
2026-07-20 19:54:00
