Imagine settling in for a long-haul flight across the Pacific, only to find out midair that your pilot forgot the one thing more essential than a boarding pass—his passport. That’s exactly what happened on United Airlines flight UA 198 from Los Angeles to Shanghai, forcing the plane to make a U-turn and causing a nearly six-hour delay, CNN reported.
Flight UA 198 took off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 2 pm on Saturday with 257 passengers and 13 crew members on board. However, after travelling northwest across the Pacific Ocean, the aircraft had to return to San Francisco when it was discovered that one of the pilots did not have the required travel document.
According to FlightAware, the plane landed at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) at approximately 5 pm local time. The airline then arranged for a new crew to take over, and the aircraft departed once again for Shanghai later in the evening. The flight finally reached its destination nearly six hours behind schedule.
