United Airlines faced its second laptop-induced diversion in just over a month, after Flight UA925 from London Heathrow to Washington Dulles was forced to divert to Dublin when a passenger dropped their laptop in business class and the device became inaccessible.
The incident occurred roughly two hours into the flight aboard a Boeing 767 operating the London–Dulles route. A United spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that a passenger’s laptop slipped between the business-class seat structure and the aircraft sidewall, lodging in a space crew could not safely reach.
The concern wasn’t the inconvenience of a lost computer — it was the fire risk posed by a lithium-ion battery that cannot be visually monitored or retrieved. With no way to confirm whether the battery had been crushed, overheated, or damaged, flight crew made the decision to divert to Dublin, where the aircraft was met by maintenance teams.
After retrieval of the device from the seat assembly and due inspections, the plane continued its onward journey to Washington Dulles, landing there at 1.15 a.m. instead of the scheduled arrival time of 8.15 pm.
Not the First Time — United Had a Near-Identical Situation Last Month
This latest diversion comes on the heels of another nearly identical laptop incident involving United.
On 15 October, United Flight UA126 from Washington Dulles to Rome made a mid-Atlantic U-turn after a passenger’s laptop slipped behind a panel and fell into a cavity near the cargo hold, a zone where it couldn’t be retrieved.
In that case, the aircraft returned to Dulles, where technicians eventually located and removed the device. The Aviation Brief covered that episode in detail at the time. You can read more about it here.
Both incidents occurred on the Boeing 767, and both were triggered by personal electronic devices (PEDs) becoming lodged in areas where they pose an uncontrolled fire hazard. Taken together, they illustrate how seemingly minor moments like a distracted passenger, a shifting seat, a dropped laptop, can rapidly escalate into significant operational events for airlines.
Why a Dropped Laptop Can Trigger a Diversion
Lithium-ion batteries present one of the most persistent inflight fire risks in commercial aviation. When a laptop becomes trapped:
- Cabin crew cannot cool or isolate the device
- Its condition cannot be monitored, making overheating or thermal runaway more dangerous
- Fire containment bags cannot be used
- Seat motors or pressure points may crush the battery, increasing ignition risk
On long-haul ETOPS sectors, such as transatlantic flights, crews have limited diversion options over oceanic airspace, and the operational decision typically errs on the side of maximal safety.
Even a small, smouldering battery is considered a severe hazard, especially if inaccessible.
Many airlines now instruct passengers to avoid adjusting seats until crew recover a dropped phone or laptop due to the risk of crushing or overheating lithium-ion batteries.
Device-related incidents and diversions have become more frequent in recent years as passengers carry more electronics. In a recent article on five recent instances of in-flight lithium battery fires, The Aviation Brief highlighted this growing risk.
What begins as a simple slip of a laptop can quickly escalate into a fuel-dumping, schedule-breaking, transatlantic diversion, costing airlines significant time, money, and logistical effort.
Also read:
Laptop Triggers a Transatlantic U-Turn for United Airlines Flight to Rome
In-flight Lithium Battery Fires: Five Alarming Cases in 2025 That Expose a Growing Risk
Lithium Battery Fire Forces Evacuation of SAS A320 at Oslo; Eight Hospitalized
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