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Crazy: United Airlines Flight Diverted Because Second Pilot In One Week Forgot His Passport
Another embarrassing United Airlines story could come straight from the Comedy Store: The airline was forced to divert a Shanghai-bound flight after yet another pilot within a one-week period forgot his passport. The last time, United had to delay the flight several hours as another […]
Another embarrassing United Airlines story could come straight from the Comedy Store: The airline was forced to divert a Shanghai-bound flight after yet another pilot within a one-week period forgot his passport.
The last time, United had to delay the flight several hours as another pilot with a passport had to be found. This time around, they weren’t as “lucky” as the pilot only noticed it after takeoff, and the flight had to divert after two hours to SFO.
This really makes you wonder if there are no checks and balances at all on these pilots. Nobody who checks their passports and other documents before they take control of a flight and hop overseas?
The flight in question was UA198 from Los Angeles to Shanghai; according to FlightAware their journey lasted a bit over 3 hours before eventually landing in San Francisco:
This will have cost United a pretty penny. Hundreds of thousands of dollars plus the inconvenience to all the passengers.
According to Gary from View from the Wing, this was the second mishap of this nature within just one week. Unreal.
I’d love to know what United offered them as compensation! My guess is either nothing of a $200 voucher. The airline is out of control!
Things happen, I have certainly forgotten or left behind plenty of things in my life but that an airline doesn’t have any checks in place to avoid such a situation is unbelievable.
Conclusion
United Airlines isn’t having a good run this week as far as mishaps are concerned. Within a one-week period, a second United pilot forgot his passport, and nobody noticed, this time while the plane was already in the air. The flight had to divert to San Francisco, and passengers had to be rebooked.
The consequences for these pilots are most likely none. United will incur hundreds of thousands in cost and passengers were heavily inconvenienced.
Airlines should start imposing more stringent controls on pilots and cabin crew prior to departure. Ideally, this would include a proper document check and a breathalizer on all flights.
Does anyone know what passengers were offered for this?
