A transatlantic flight from Heathrow to Washington DC was forced to make an emergency stop in Ireland after a laptop became wedged beside a business-class seat.
The Boeing 767-400 operating as Flight UA925 departed London for Washington Dulles International Airport but changed course approximately two hours into the journey.
The unplanned landing in Dublin became necessary when the device slipped between the seat and the aircraft wall, where it remained inaccessible to the cabin crew.
Fruitless attempts to retrieve the trapped laptop forced precautionary measures due to the gadget's internal lithium-ion battery presenting a fire hazard.
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The United Airlines flight carried 100 travellers and 10 staff members on November 19.
Following the Dublin stopover, where technical personnel successfully located and examined the laptop, the journey resumed across the Atlantic.
The Washington Dulles arrival occurred at 1.22am, a five-hour delay from the original schedule.
A United representative confirmed: "On November 19, United flight 925 safely landed in Dublin as a precaution to retrieve a customer's laptop that had fallen in between the seat and the side wall."
A flight from Heathrow to Washington DC was diverted because of a trapped laptop
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The spokesman added that technical teams successfully recovered the device and conducted thorough aircraft checks before departure.
"Maintenance crews retrieved the laptop, inspected the aircraft and the flight later departed for Washington Dulles," the airline stated.
The retrieval operation required specialised personnel to access the narrow space where the device had lodged, ensuring both the laptop's safe removal and verification that no damage had occurred to the aircraft systems.
Electronic devices containing lithium-ion batteries present significant hazards aboard aircraft, as malfunctioning, damaged or overheated units can ignite uncontrollably.
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The laptop was deemed to present a fire hazard
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Aviation protocols mandate immediate diversion when battery-powered equipment becomes lodged in inaccessible areas, particularly within seating mechanisms where retrieval proves impossible during flight.
This incident follows a similar October occurrence involving another United service bound for Italy.
The flight was forced to return to the US after a passenger's activated laptop tumbled through a cabin panel into the cargo compartment.
During that event, the pilot communicated with air traffic control about the "minor situation" involving the device that had fallen through a gap into an unreachable area below the passenger cabin.
The flight's destination has today seen the shooting of two National Guardsmen
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On Wednesday, November 26, Washington Dulles’s sister airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, was issued a ground stop order.
The order came as two National Guardsmen were shot in the US capital city.
Both soldiers are said to be in "critical condition", and a suspect, also injured, is in custody following the incident.
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