A United Airlines flight was forced to return to Sydney. Source: Supplied
FAILED tyres are believed to be the reason why a United Airlines plane bound for Los Angeles had to return to Sydney after it took off just after 3pm.
Greg Madden, from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said details around the incident were scant and it was yet to be confirmed whether some tyres failed.
The plane, flight 840, took off at 3.12pm when the incident occurred.
While in the air it dumped fuel before returning to Sydney Airport for an unscheduled landing.
The plane landed safely without incident and investigations are continuing.
Mr Madden said it was a rare occurrence for this type of aircraft, a Boeing 747, to jettison fuel, known as dumping fuel, and land.
He said a Boeing 747 was fitted with a jettison fuel system, which allowed the flight crew to dump fuel prior to making a landing.
This fuel dumping is necessary to reduce the aircraft weight to at, or below, the maximum landing weight of around 287 tonnes.
The fuel is a liquid that turns into fine mist and evaporates in the atmosphere.
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