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US flight in emergency landing after pilot’s screens go blank

ExpressJet Airlines said the plane encountered a ‘mechanical issue’ which forced it to land in Dallas.
ExpressJet Airlines said the plane encountered a ‘mechanical issue’ which forced it to land in Dallas. ExpressJet Airlines said the plane encountered a ‘mechanical issue’ which forced it to land in Dallas.

A plane was forced to make an emergency landing after screens used by the pilot went blank mid-flight.

The aircraft, which was scheduled to fly from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Houston, Texas, in the US, was forced to make the sudden pit-stop in Dallas.

Footage from inside the plane shows the pilot telling passengers he had “lost two screens” and was running the risk of “flying blind” because some of the aircraft’s mechanisms were overheating.

Upon landing on Thursday, he said: “You may be able to see we lost two of our screens and if we kept flying, we’d lose them all eventually because there is not enough cooling and there is tremendous heat behind those screens.

“This dictates that we land as soon as possible because if we had continued, eventually I’d be flying blind. So that is why we are in Dallas right now.”

The pilot added that it is “unlikely this aircraft is going anywhere tonight”.

A spokesman for ExpressJet Airlines, which was operating the flight on behalf of United Airlines, said the plane “diverted to Dallas and landed safely following a mechanical issue”.

He added: “Customers deplaned normally and we are working to get our customers on their way to their destination as soon as possible.”