United Flight Turns Around After ‘Plastic Burning Smell’ Is Detected Inside Cabin

A United flight departing from San Francisco International Airport had to turn around to address a burning smell inside the cabin.

The plane, a Boeing 737 MAX-9, was en route to Baltimore/Washington International Airport when the incident occurred on Tuesday, Sept. 2. There were 164 passengers and eight crew members on board. 

“United flight 2664 safely returned to San Francisco to address a plastic burning smell in the cabin,” a spokesperson for the airline shared in a statement with PEOPLE. “Customers deplaned normally at the gate.”

The spokesperson added that United arranged for a different aircraft to take the passengers to their destination.

According to FlightAware, the plane took off at 9:47 a.m. local time. Just over 30 minutes into the flight, the plane diverted back to its origin at SFO. The plane landed safely at 10:42 a.m., less than an hour after takeoff.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also noted in a statement on their website that they are investigating the incident. 

In April, Hawaiian Airlines flight 457 took similar precautions after an “electrical smell” was detected on the plane, PEOPLE previously reported. 

The smell occurred after a passenger’s phone got stuck between two seats during the flight from Honolulu to Tokyo, prompting the pilot to declare an emergency. This granted the aircraft priority handling once they landed safely at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. 

One day before United flight 2664 detected a burning smell in the cabin, two of the airline’s planes were involved in another incident at SFO after they collided on the tarmac. 

On Monday, Sept. 1, “United Airlines flight 1871 struck United Airlines flight 796 while pushing back from the gate,” according to the FAA, which is investigating the event.

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A spokesperson for United explained the moving plane made contact with the tail of the parked United aircraft, resulting in a minor collision. Per the FAA, the incident occurred in “an area where air traffic controllers do not communicate with flights.”