A plane carrying over 100 passengers returned to Newark Liberty International Airport after their early morning flight on Tuesday landed back at the airport because of a possible mechanical problem, officials said.
United Airlines Flight 1544, flying direct to Las Vegas, returned to the airport shortly after taking off, an airline spokesperson told NJ Advance Media.
Data from FlightAware, an airplane-tracking website, showed the flight took off from Newark around 5:55 a.m., returning around 7:03 a.m.
The Boeing 757 jet was carrying 176 passengers and six crew members, airline officials said. All of the passengers boarded a second plane to Las Vegas later Tuesday morning.
United Airlines did not specify on the mechanical problem. The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately return a request by NJ Advance Media for comment.
The flight is at least the second United flight to return to Newark in the past month over an in-flight malfunction. In late January, a United flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, carrying 230 passengers and nine crew members, was forced to land back at the airport for a mechanical problem.
Stories by Eric Conklin
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.