A Skywest Canadair CRJ-700 on behalf of United Airlines, registration N705SK performing flight UA-6517 from Tucson,AZ to Los Angeles,CA (USA) with 73 people on board, was in the initial climb out of Tucson’s runway 11L when the crew, still on tower frequency, announced they needed to turn back to the field, then donned their oxygen masks and reported they had smoke in the cockpit, there were 73 people on board, tower understood 33 people on board. Tower cleared the aircraft to land on runway 11L, the crew levelled off at about 1500 feet AGL, joined a left pattern and landed safely back on runway 11L about 8 minutes after departure. The aircraft stopped on the runway and was evacuated. No injuries occurred.
A replacement Canadair CRJ-700 reached Los Angeles with a delay of 7 hours.
The Aviation Herald
UA-6517 returns to Tucson (AZ) with smoke onboard
