A United Airlines Boeing 787 jetliner flying from Los Angeles to Shanghai had to turn around last weekend after it was discovered one of the pilots had taken off without a passport, the airline told CNN in a statement.
Flight UA 198 departed LAX at around 2 p.m. Saturday, March 22, with 257 passengers and 13 crew onboard and headed northwest over the Pacific Ocean, bound for China’s largest city.
About two hours later, the plane turned around and was redirected to San Francisco, where it landed around 5 p.m. local time, according to the website FlightAware.
“The pilot did not have their passport onboard,” United said in the statement. “We arranged for a new crew to take our customers to their destination that evening. Customers were provided with meal vouchers and compensation.”
The flight with the new crew took off around 9 p.m. and landed in Shanghai about six hours behind schedule.
Yang Shuhan, a Chinese passenger on board, told CNN that she heard the pilot’s “very frustrated voice” over the intercom, saying he “forgot (his) passport.”
After landing in San Francisco, Yang received two meal vouchers totaling $30, which she used for a meal at a Japanese restaurant in the airport. She said she also filed a compensation claim on United’s website, where she was informed to expect a response within 14 business days.
The traveler from Hangzhou, in eastern China, was on her way back from a business trip. After reaching Shanghai at 12:43 a.m. on Monday, she still had to drive another two and a half hours, she said, leaving her exhausted.
While the unexpected delay threw a wrench in her Monday working plans, Yang said she appreciated the pilot’s “honesty.” However, many of her fellow passengers grumbled and said they were “outraged” and “speechless” on RedNote, China’s Instagram-like platform.
“How could someone mess up this badly at work?” read a popular RedNote post appearing to be from another Chinese passenger on board. The post has gotten more than 10,000 likes.
The disruptions didn’t stop with UA 198; passengers on the returning flight, UA 199 from Shanghai to Los Angeles, were also affected due to the late arrival of the inbound aircraft.
A Shanghai-based business traveler, who requested to stay anonymous over privacy concerns, told CNN that their LA-bound flight was also delayed for about six hours, forcing them to change their ticket to catch a connecting flight.
“I’m feeling pretty frustrated,” the person told CNN just after landing at LAX late Sunday night. “Because of the delay, I have to reschedule all my plans for Monday, which is really inconvenient.” CNN
