Talk about bad luck! An American Boeing 777 flying from Boston to London had to divert to New York over a maintenance issue. American quickly found a replacement plane to carry passengers to London, only for that to then divert to Boston over a maintenance issue, meaning passengers ended up exactly where they started (thanks to Simon for flagging this, and to The Aviation Herald for reporting this).
American 777 diverts to New York over gear issue
This incident happened on Monday, July 20, 2026, and involves American flight AA108, scheduled to operate from Boston (BOS) to London (LHR). The flight was operated by a 27-year-old Boeing 777-200ER with the registration code N772AN.
The flight took off from Boston at 8:30PM, but the crew couldn’t retract the landing gear. While this doesn’t pose any sort of an immediate safety risk, you of course don’t want to fly across the Atlantic that way.
Rather than diverting back to Boston, American instead decided to divert to New York (JFK), so that a replacement plane could be arranged, to carry passengers to London… that’s smart planning!
So the plane flew at a maximum altitude of 5,000 feet, and ended up landing in New York at 10PM, exactly 1hr30min after it first departed.
American 777 diverts to Boston over engine issue
American deserves credit for trying to efficiently find a replacement aircraft and crew for passengers, because within a few hours, people were on their way to London. At this point we’re talking about Tuesday, July 21, 2026, as a 26-year-old replacement Boeing 777-200ER with the registration code N784AN was assigned for the mission.
The plane took off from New York at 1:26AM, climbed up to 37,000 feet, and started its Atlantic crossing. However, around 40 minutes after takeoff, the crew decided to divert, reportedly due to some sort of engine problems.
This time around, the plane diverted to Boston, the closest major airport from its location. The plane landed there at 3:15AM, 1hr49min after it departed.
Let me emphasize that the initial flight departed Boston at 8:30PM the night before, so passengers ended up back exactly where they started, 6hr45min after their initial takeoff. Funny enough, that’s longer than the typical flight time from Boston to London.
Bottom line
When it rains it pours, as American had a very tough time operating a simple flight from Boston to London. First the Boeing 777 had to divert to New York over a gear issue. They quickly found a replacement plane, only for that 777 to then divert to Boston over an engine issue.
Obviously this represents some spectacularly bad luck, as passengers ended up exactly where they started, nearly seven hours after their initial takeoff.
What do you make of this not-so-seamless journey to London?