A United Airlines flight, two hours into the air, turned around after the pilot forgot his passport.
According to CNN, a United Airlines Boeing 787 jetliner flying to Shanghai, China, from Los Angeles was forced to turn around and land midway last weekend after it was found that one of the pilots did not have a passport.
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Flight UA 198 took off from LAX at around 2 pm on Saturday, March 22, 2025, heading northwest over the Pacific Ocean, bound for China’s largest city.
As per the website FlightAware, the flight carrying 257 passengers and 13 crew onboard was redirected to San Francisco, where it landed at around 5 pm local time.
United Airlines stated, “The pilot did not have their passport onboard. We arranged for a new crew to take our customers to their destination that evening. Customers were provided with meal vouchers and compensation.”
Yang Shuhan, a Chinese passenger on board who received two meal vouchers totalling $30, told CNN that she heard the pilot saying in a very frustrated voice” over the intercom that he “forgot (his) passport.”
The flight then took off around 9 pm with the new crew and landed in Shanghai around six hours later than it was scheduled.
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