United Airlines Flight 613 Lawsuit

Nolan Law Group Files Lawsuits for Passengers Injured During Horrifying “Altitude Excursions” on United Airlines Flight 613

Nolan Law Group filed seven lawsuits for passengers who were injured during a horrifying inflight event on United Airlines Flight 613 that was precipitated by mechanical failures in the airplane’s flight control system. The flight took off from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria on January 23, 2025, and was destined to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. 

According to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), information from the plane’s flight data recorder showed that sensor systems known as inertial reference units or IRUs that feed into the plane’s autopilot failed at different times shortly after the flight began. These failures were followed by an automatic disconnection of the autopilot at 12:30 a.m. (on January 24) while over the airspace of Ivory Coast, at which point, the pilots took manual control of the airplane and quickly received the master caution and master warning.

The airplane then began experiencing erratic and terrifying altitude changes and the autothrottle disconnected. The pilots attempted to reengage the autopilot, but it automatically disconnected again within one second. The pilots, flying manually, then decided to return to Lagos while these altitude excursions that mimicked severe turbulence continued.

The passengers and crew experienced these sudden altitude changes of more than 600 feet for approximately 12 minutes before the pilots were able to regain full control of the airplane. At the time the inflight upsets began, meal service was being conducted in the cabin and injuries to many of the 254 passengers and crew members resulted.