United Airlines Transpacific Flight Diverts After Pilot Forgets Passport
A United Airlines flight to Shanghai was forced to make a U-turn over the Pacific Ocean after one of the pilots discovered a critical missing item: his passport.
Pilot Forgets Passport, Forcing Diversion Of Transpacific United Airlines 787-9 Flight
UA198 took off on-time from Los Angeles (LAX) on Saturday, March 22, 2025 bound for Shanghai (PVG). But fours later it landed in San Francisco (SFO), just 337 miles from where it started.
Why? Apparently one of the pilots (four pilots operate the 13-hour flight to Shanghai) realized two hours over the Pacific Ocean that he left his passport at home.
The flight made a U-turn and flew to San Fransico (SFO), where it landed at 5:05 pm. A replacement crew was found and the flight took off again at 8:28 pm, eventually arriving in Shanghai 12:48 am on Monday, March 24, 2025…about six hours late.
While passengers onboard were reportedly given the real reason for the diversion, United was a bit more diplomatic in communicating this publicly:
UA198 SFO-PVG: Your flight diverted to San Francisco due to an unexpected crew-related issue requiring a new crew. Once they arrive, we’ll get you back on your way to Shanghai as soon as possible. We sincerely apologize for this disruption and appreciate your patience.
While I suspect union protections will ensure the pilot only gets a slap on the wrist, that’s a critical…and extremely costly error. Passengers on the ground were only given $15 in meal vouchers (that gets you tap water and a straw at SFO) but think of the cost of fuel and having to pay for a second complete crew (because the first crew would have “timed out”). Had this been the European Union, each passenger would have been entitled to €600 for the preventable delay.
Why not continue to China and then put the pilot on a flight back? One, that probably runs afoul of Chinese law (and is a risk you just don’t want to take). Two, that might have messed up the return flight as well if a replacement pilot could not have been flown into PVG in time.
I’ve forgotten my passport too…talk about embarrassing! I showed up to check in for my London flight and discovered I had left my passport at home…that meant my wife and son had to travel alone to London and I had to book a walk-up British Airways ticket to London later this evening.
That was in 2018…thankfully I have not forgotten it since!
So I understand it happens, but it’s one thing to leave it at home and discover before boarding but quite another to realize this two hours over the Pacific Ocean. It seems that United should also start checking crew passports before takeoff…
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Hat Tip: View From The Wing