United Airlines China flight turns around: Pilot forgets passport

United Airlines China flight turns around: Pilot forgets passport

A United Airlines Boeing 787 scheduled to fly from Los Angeles to Shanghai was forced to turn back last weekend after one of the pilots was found to have been flying without a passport. The airline announced this to CNN in a statement.

Details about the incident

Flight UA 198 departed LAX at around 2 p.m. local time on Saturday, March 22, with 257 passengers and 13 crew members on board, bound for China's largest city. About two hours after takeoff, the plane turned around and was diverted to San Francisco, where it landed around 5 p.m., the website FlightAware reported.

Passenger reactions

“The pilot did not have his passport on board,” United said in the statement. "We organized a new crew to take our customers to their destination in the evening. The passengers received meal vouchers and compensation." The flight with the new crew took off around 9 p.m. and landed in Shanghai about six hours late.

Yang Shuhan, a Chinese passenger on board, told CNN that she heard the pilot's "very frustrated voice" over the intercom, saying he had "forgotten" his passport. After landing in San Francisco, Yang received two meal vouchers worth a total of $30, which she redeemed for a meal at a Japanese restaurant at the airport. She also submitted a compensation request on United's website, where she was informed that she could expect a response within 14 business days.

Difficult return journey for passengers

The traveler from Hangzhou, in eastern China, was on her way back from a business trip. After arriving in Shanghai at 12:43 a.m. on Monday, she had to drive another two and a half hours, leaving her exhausted. Although the unexpected delay disrupted her work plans Monday, Yang said she appreciated the pilot's "honesty." However, many of her fellow passengers expressed their displeasure, describing the situation as "outrageous" and "speechless" on RedNote, China's Instagram-like platform. A popular post from another Chinese passenger received over 10,000 likes and asked: "How can someone make such a big mistake on the job?"

Consequences of the delay

The disruptions were not limited to UA 198: the passengers on the return flight UA 199 from Shanghai to Los Angeles were also affected because the incoming aircraft arrived late. A business traveler from Shanghai, who wished to remain anonymous, told CNN that his flight to LA was also delayed by about six hours, forcing him to change his ticket to catch a connecting flight. "I'm pretty frustrated," the person said immediately after landing at LAX late Sunday night. “Because of the delay I have to rearrange all my plans for Monday, which is really inconvenient.”

Expert commentary

"It's quite embarrassing (for United)," Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based Endau Analytics, an airline industry consulting firm, told CNN. He added that the mistake was "unacceptable" for a global airline like United and showed a "lack of discipline." United is one of the world's largest airlines, carrying 140 million people annually to more than 300 destinations on six continents, according to the company's website.

Shukor noted that the "absent-mindedness" in this incident could cost the airline dearly, especially considering the cost of the jet fuel they had to dump before the diversion and compensation to passengers.

Additional incidents and safety concerns

While a series of aircraft accidents involving U.S. airlines in recent months have raised safety concerns, the recent incident involving United was "more of a protocol issue," Shukor said. Just last week, an Orthodox Jewish passenger filed a lawsuit against the airline, alleging that a United pilot forcibly removed him from a toilet while he was constipated, exposing his genitals to other passengers during a flight from Tulum, Mexico, to Houston.

Meanwhile, United was criticized by a New Jersey mother who was traveling with her "medically complex" son and was asked to remove his breathing tube before departure. Her TikTok video about the incident has received over 1.3 million views.