38 hurt as United flight from Nigeria to D.C. experiences ‘unexpected aircraft movement’, officials say

Thirty-eight people were injured, six of them hospitalized, after a United Airlines flight from Nigeria to Washington, D.C., experienced problems midair, Nigerian officials said.

The nature of the emergency wasn’t entirely clear, but video verified by NBC News shows the passenger cabin of the Boeing 787-8 in disarray after the incident, meal trays and food strewn about the floor and some of the aircraft’s headliner separated from the cabin’s ceiling.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria said the United flight departed from Lagos at 11:59 p.m. local time Thursday (5:59 p.m. ET). It returned to Murtala Muhammed International Airport at 3:22 a.m. Friday (9:22 p.m. ET Thursday) following an emergency “hours” after takeoff, the agency said.

United Airlines said in a statement Saturday that flight 613 with 245 passengers, eight crew members, and three pilots returned safely to Lagos following “a technical issue and an unexpected aircraft movement.”

The airline described the six people hospitalized as four passengers and two flight attendants who suffered minor injuries. Nigeria’s airports authority said in its own statement that the six suffered “serious” injuries and were stabilized at area medical facilities before being taken to Duchess Hospital in Ikeja.

It said an additional 27 passengers and five crew members suffered minor injuries and were given first aid before being released “immediately.”

The Nigerian airports authority said on X that is medical team, “led by a very senior management staff,” was aware of the situation and staged ahead of the flight’s return.

“The medical team were in direct communication with the pilot prior to the aircraft’s landing in Lagos,” it said, adding that the team, as well as firefighters on the ground, were “present and prepared.”

The aircraft did not sustain major damage, the airports authority said. The plane spent 3 hours, 36 minutes in flight, according to travel tracker FlightAware.

A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said by email Saturday that information on the incident will come from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and United Airlines.

United said it was working with authorities in Nigeria and the United States to help find out what happened.