United Airlines flight 507, which was operating a 26-year-old Boeing 777, departed San Francisco International Airport at 5:03 p.m. local time on Saturday, June 21. Eight hours into the trip, halfway across the Atlantic Ocean, the plane descended rapidly to 21,000 feet, per flight monitoring service Aviation Source News.
Crews made two decisions: first, to issue squawk code 7700, an international distress code; second, to divert north to Iceland for an emergency landing.
“The 777 is descending through 10,000 feet,” the flight monitoring service reported 10 minutes before landing. “Based on its descent path and runway in use, the aircraft is aiming for a straight-in approach for Runway 01.”
touched down at Keflavik International Airport near Reykjavík. The plane vacated the runway before getting towed to a remote stand. United Airlines canceled the remainder of the flight to Rome.
United confirms to PEOPLE that none of the flight’s 275 passengers or 14 crew members were injured.
“United Flight 507 from San Francisco to Rome landed safely at Keflavik Airport on Sunday to address a mechanical issue,” a representative said in a statement. “We scheduled a new flight to take our customers to Rome on Monday and have provided them with hotel accommodations.”
