(Reuters) - A United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Beijing, returned to the airport from which it had taken off on Thursday after encountering turbulence that led to five flight attendants being injured, an airport spokesman said.

No passengers on the flight, United flight 89, were injured and the injuries to the flight crew were not life threatening, said Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark International Airport.

The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200 operated by a unit of United Continental Holdings Inc, had lifted off at 1:03 p.m. EST (1803 GMT), the airport reported.