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What an airhead.
A United Airlines flight from Los Angeles, California to Shanghai, China was forced to make a U-turn last weekend after one of the pilots realized that they’d forgotten their passport.
Flight UA 198 had departed LAX at around 2 pm Saturday, March 22, and was flying over the Pacific Ocean en route to the Chinese metropolis, CNN reported.
Just two hours into the 13-plus-hour trip, the flight had to turn around and divert to San Francisco after it was discovered that one of the captains “did not have their passport onboard,” a United representative said in a statement, per the Straits Times.
Yang Shuhan, a Chinese passenger aboard the flight, recalled hearing the “frustrated” flyboy announcing over the intercom that he “forgot (his) passport.”
The plane reportedly touched down at around 5 pm, according to Flight Aware, after which the 257 passengers were provided with $15 “meal vouchers and compensation,” per United.
A new crew subsequently took over and the flight departed at 9 pm, landing in Shanghai approximately 6 hours behind schedule.
Prior to landing in San Francisco, United had addressed the ludicrous situation in an announcement to passengers, notably omitting the part about the misplaced travel doc.
“Your flight diverted to San Francisco due to an unexpected crew-related issue requiring a new crew,” reps said, according to a View From The Wing. “Once they arrive, we’ll get you back on your way to Shanghai as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for this disruption and appreciate your patience.”
Passengers were none too sympathetic with the gaffe, which they felt was a ridiculous unforced error.
“How could someone mess up this badly at work?” an alleged passenger wrote in a viral post on the Chinese social networking platform Rednote, CNN reported.
“UA198 diverted to SFO because the pilot forgot his passport?” fumed another on X in a post addressed to the carrier. “Now stuck 6+ hours. Completely unacceptable. @united, what compensation are you offering for this total mishandling?”
“Hi there. We sincerely apologize for this unexpected travel disruption,” United’s handle replied. “For assistance with your reservation, you can speak to our Agent On Demand team at http://united.com/aod.”
Unfortunately, the fiasco didn’t just disrupt the flight in question — passengers on returning flight UA199 from Shanghai to Los Angeles were also affected by the delay.
A Shanghai-based business traveler, who opted to go unnamed, claimed that their LA-bound flight was also postponed for around six hours, forcing them to get a new ticket so they could make a connection, CNN reported.
“Because of the delay, I have to reschedule all my plans for Monday, which is really inconvenient,” the “frustrated” flyer recalled.
Meanwhile, Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based Endau Analytics, an advisory company for the aviation industry, called the mishap “embarrassing” and “unacceptable” for a global airline like United, adding that it “shows a lack of discipline.”
