United Flight UA 776 diverted to Richmond

United Airlines flight UA776 diverted to Richmond, Virginia, late Wednesday after thunderstorms disrupted operations at Newark Liberty International Airport, extending the Orlando-to-Newark trip well beyond its scheduled arrival. Flight tracking data showed the Boeing 737-900 left Orlando on May 20 and reached Richmond before continuing on to Newark in the early hours of May 21. Newark was under weather-related delay programs as storms moved through the region, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and Newark airport alerts. FlightAware listed UA776 as a delayed Orlando-Newark service on May 20, with the aircraft eventually shown arriving at Newark at 1:57 a.m. EDT on May 21, nearly six hours behind schedule. A separate schedule page for the route listed the planned arrival around 8 p.m. on May 20, underscoring the scale of the delay. ### Why did the flight end up in Richmond instead of Newark? Newark airport said at 4:32 p.m. on May 20 that flights were being disrupted by thunderstorms in the area and told passengers to check with their airline for updated status. (flightradar24.com) The FAA’s National Airspace System status page also showed active delay programs affecting major airports in the region. NJ.com, citing FAA information, reported Newark was seeing a ground delay of almost 160 minutes and average departure delays of about an hour because of thunderstorms. (flightaware.com) The FAA’s daily air traffic report for May 20 separately warned that thunderstorms could delay flights across a broad stretch of the United States, including the Northeast. (newarkairport.com) ### What do the tracking records show for UA776? Flightradar24’s flight-history page showed a May 20 Orlando-to-Newark UA776 service on a Boeing 737-900 marked “Diverted to RIC,” the airport code for Richmond. The same history page showed a later Richmond-to-Newark segment, indicating the aircraft resumed the trip after the diversion. FlightAware’s live tracking entry for UA776 showed the service operating with a departure from Orlando at 11:34 p.m. (nj.com) EDT and an arrival estimate into Newark at 1:57 a.m. EDT. Because live trackers can update while a flight is in progress, the exact timestamps differ across public trackers, but both records point to the same outcome: a Richmond diversion followed by a late arrival into Newark. (flightradar24.com) ### Was this an emergency landing? Publicly available FAA and airport alerts reviewed Thursday described thunderstorms and delay programs at Newark, but did not describe a mechanical problem or other onboard emergency involving UA776. The public flight-tracking records available Thursday support a weather-disruption explanation tied to congestion and air-traffic constraints around Newark. United’s public flight-status page allows passengers to search by route or flight number, but the search result reviewed Thursday did not provide a public narrative explanation beyond status tracking tools. (flightaware.com) Richmond International Airport also maintains a public flight tracker for arrivals and departures. ### What should passengers watch next? The FAA’s NAS status page remains the main public source for live ground stops and delay programs, while Newark airport posts operational alerts when weather disrupts service. (nasstatus.faa.gov) United passengers booked through Newark can also monitor the carrier’s flight-status and travel-alert pages for reaccommodation options and schedule changes. (united.com)