Japanese jet aborts test flight twice after takeoff

Japan's new passenger jet on Sunday aborted a test flight to the United States for the second time in two days because of an air conditioning defect, its maker said.

On Saturday a Mitsubishi Regional Jet left Nagoya airport in central Japan for the US but soon turned back due to air conditioning problems.

The plane took off again on Sunday but problems "in the same air conditioning monitoring system" caused it to return, Mitsubishi Heavy and its subsidiary Mitsubishi Aircraft said in a joint statement.