Korean Air flight turns back due to landing gear issues

Korean Air's Boeing 787-9 [KOREAN AIR LINES]

A New York-bound Korean Air Lines flight returned to Incheon International Airport five hours and 30 minutes after it took off on Monday due to problems with the aircraft's landing gear.

The flight took off from Incheon at 10 a.m. Monday with 400 passengers on board. The problem with the plane gear was discovered 30 minutes after takeoff, according to the national carrier Monday.

The pilots decided to fly back to the airport and replace the aircraft as it evaluated it would take longer to fix the glitch before heading back towards New York.

The aircraft was flying over Japan when the decision was made but had to circle above the Korean peninsula to burn excess fuel before landing at the airport at 3:45 p.m.

Korean Air Lines replaced the airplane, which took off for New York at 5 p.m.

“We apologize for inconveniencing passengers due to our safety measures,” a Korean Air Lines spokesperson said. “We will do our best to get them to their destination quickly with the replaced aircraft.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]