United Flight Changes Aircraft & Diverts Twice Flying Los Angeles To New York

United Airlines Flight 1403, operating Aug. 27 from Los Angeles to Newark, was forced to land in Las Vegas after the crew reported an engine issue, then diverted again before eventually reaching its destination late Aug. 28. The first emergency landing involved a Boeing 757-200 (N34131) carrying 176 passengers and seven crew; the aircraft encountered problems while climbing through FL320 after departure from LAX, related to its left-hand Rolls-Royce RB211 engine. It landed safely at Harry Reid International Airport on Runway 26R about 25 minutes later. After replacement aircraft (another 757-200, N13113) took passengers toward Newark, the flight entered holding over Pennsylvania and diverted to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport due to severe weather, landing around 11:30 PM local and reaching the gate near 12:30 AM. The FAA is investigating; severe weather also disrupted Newark, with some delays exceeding four hours and 158 cancellations reported on Thursday.