United passengers stuck on 8-hour flight to nowhere after scare on San Francisco to London jet

Travelers aboard a United Airlines flight to London endured an eight-hour journey to 'nowhere' after a technical issue mid-trip forced the plane to turn back to California.

More than 200 passengers departed San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on flight UA948 - a Boeing 777-200ER - Tuesday afternoon, bound for Heathrow Airport in England, as reported by aviation site Aviation A2Z.

But roughly halfway through the transatlantic journey, the 15-year-old aircraft suddenly diverted due to a reported 'technical issue,' with no further details provided to frustrated flyers.  

On July 15, the flight - originally scheduled for 4pm - experienced operational delays just before takeoff but eventually departed from the West Coast state about 41 minutes later, according to the outlet.

After more than an hour in the air, the crew detected the same issue noted at the airport and, according to FlightAware data, made a U-turn near the US-Canada border, northwest of Winnipeg.

United Airlines informed the hundreds of travelers via its mobile app that, due to an ongoing technical issue, the plane was returning to San Francisco to prioritize passenger safety - though there was no sign of an immediate in-flight emergency. 

Travelers aboard a United Airlines flight to London endured an eight-hour journey to 'nowhere' after a technical issue mid-trip forced the plane to turn back to California on July 15 (stock photo)

More than 200 passengers departed San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on flight UA948 - a Boeing 777-200ER - Tuesday afternoon, bound for Heathrow Airport in England (pictured)

Roughly halfway through the transatlantic journey, the 15-year-old aircraft suddenly diverted due to a reported 'technical issue' - and spent the next seven hours airborne before landing back at SFO (pictured: flight route)

What followed was a grueling ordeal, as the plane spent more than seven hours in the air before finally preparing to land.

The plane, originally scheduled to land in London at 10.25am on July 16, instead touched down at San Francisco Airport just after midnight - more than eight hours after its initial departure. 

More than nine hours after the original takeoff, the flight’s departure was rescheduled for 1.18am on July 16, with an expected arrival in London just before 7.30pm - but that flight was also canceled, according to United's website.

'Your flight is canceled because we needed to take the plane out of service to address a technical issue,' its website said.

'Your safety is our priority and we're sorry for the inconvenience.' 

This travel nightmare comes just weeks after an American Airlines flight was forced to divert when a frightened passenger wrongly panicked over a seatmate's text messages. 

On July 3, AA Flight 1847 to Dallas, Texas, was forced to abort and return to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, due to concern that the flight was in immediate danger.

An unnamed female passenger became spooked when she observed her neighbor receive a text that said 'RIP [rest in peace]' 30 minutes into their journey. 

United Airlines informed the hundreds of travelers via its mobile app that, due to an ongoing technical issue, the plane was returning to San Francisco (pictured) to prioritize passenger safety - though there was no sign of an immediate in-flight emergency

More than nine hours after the original takeoff, the flight’s departure was rescheduled for 1.18am on July 16, with an expected arrival in London just before 7.30pm - but that flight was also canceled (stock photo)

She interpreted the message as threatening, causing staff to declare an emergency and divert back to the island, according to local news site Primera Hora.

Pilots told the tower they were treating the threat as a 'level three,' meaning it could be life-threatening to passengers.

'We have a threat onboard,' the pilot said in audio obtained by Daily Mail. 'With text messaging between passengers and flight members, so we're going to need authorities at the gate to meet us just to figure out what's going on here.'

It was determined that the passenger had received the text about a relative who had died the day before. The passenger was traveling home from vacation early, according to Primera Hora.

The plane took off for Dallas shortly after the fiasco and landed in the States shortly before 2pm local time.