United flight from Honolulu delayed after scraping tail during takeoff

A United Airlines flight leaving the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu this morning had to return to the airport after it scraped its tail on the runway during takeoff, resulting in a four-hour delay.

The state Department of Transportation said the plane, which was headed to San Francisco, Calif., did not suffer major damage but likely returned to Honolulu for precautionary purposes.

The plane’s initial takeoff time was about 7 a.m., but after taking off it circled around the waters south of Oahu for about 45 minutes before returning to the airport, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

The DOT said the same aircraft departed again, this time at around 11:30 a.m. The flight is currently headed to Houston, Texas.