United flight to Germany turns back to Houston’s Bush Airport after takeoff

It was a quick turnaround for passengers on United Airlines Flight on Saturday evening.

Houston Airports says the flight, originally headed from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Frankfurt, Germany, had to return shortly after takeoff due to a maintenance issue.

Flight 46 took off around 6:24 p.m. CDT, right on time. But not long into its journey, the crew encountered a technical issue and decided to head back to Houston as a precaution.

Before landing, the plane had to release fuel to ensure it wasn’t too heavy to safely touch down.

The plane landed safely back at IAH just after 8 p.m. and was brought to a gate.

United Airlines confirmed the issue and said they’d be swapping out the aircraft so passengers could continue to Germany later that evening.

The original flight to Frankfurt typically takes around eight hours.

Despite the unexpected delay, no injuries were reported, and passengers were expected to continue their journey the same night on a replacement plane.