The State : Ill Luck Rides United Flight

When a hard-luck United Airlines flight bound from San Francisco to Detroit and Hartford, Conn., was forced back to the airport due to mechanical problems, it was the third time the flight was delayed, according to its weary passengers. The DC-8 was held up earlier when it apparently was overbooked, then was delayed a second time because a passenger became sick and had to leave the plane. After finally taking off with 194 people aboard, passengers were told that the landing gear doors might be malfunctioning and the plane would have to return to the airport. “It was an indicator light for a landing gear door that went on after takeoff and wouldn’t go off,” United spokesman Rob Doughty said of Flight 758. “The gear was operating fine but the light wouldn’t go off.” The plane landed without incident.