The afternoon of last Sunday, March 23, the UA198 flight of the US airline United Airlines took off from the International Airport of Los Angelesin Californiabound for the city of Shanghaiin China. However, the plane deviated unexpectedly after two hours of travel and returned to the United States.
According to the American television channel ABC Newsthe plane, a Boeing 787 double corridor commercial, transported 257 passengers and 13 crew members when it was redirected to the International Airport of San Francisco, because one of the pilots had forgotten his passport in the state of California.
According to the American media, the redirection occurred while the aircraft flew over the Pacific Oceanat which time the crew learned that one of the pilots did not carry the necessary documents to be able to enter China, so they had to Return to the United States and completely replace the flight team.
Subsequently, through a statement, United Airlines recognized the error and explained that the pilot did not have his passport on board Six -hour delay.
Passenger anger
Upon returning to the United States, most passengers expressed their discontent and anger For the inconvenience, taking into consideration that more than half indicated that it would present a “Compensation claim” On the United Airlines airline website, because the problem was “only the crew.”
Through social networks, the Chinese citizen Yang Shuhanwho was in California for a business trip, said he had heard the pilot’s voice through the plane’s intercom: “He said he had forgotten his passport and sounded very frustrated. Then they only gave me a coupon of US $ 30 (Q230) To go to eat, ”he added.
For his part, another passenger, who did not want to reveal his name, was interviewed by the American television channel CNN Upon arriving in San Francisco, and mentioned that the situation was completely unacceptable: “This event is extremely shameful and ridiculous. I don’t know how an airline of this magnitude makes these mistakes, ”he added.
In turn, the aviation analyst in SingaporeShukor yusof, He commented that this situation reflects a lack of discipline In the crew of United Airlines: “This type of mistakes will have considerable economic cost, because fuel waste and compensation To all passengers, ”he argued.
This has not been the only problem of United Airlines during this month, since last Saturday, March 1, a passenger from Israel presented one demand Against the US airline because, allegedly, it was taken by force from the bathroom while suffering from constipation during a flight to Houston, Texas.
A few days later, on Monday, March 10, a mother originally from New Jersey He strongly criticized the airline because the crew of his flight told him that he should remove the breathing tube from his sick son before takeoff. The woman recorded the incident and published it in Tiktokwhere it already exceeded the million visualizations.