One of the most stressful situations for international travelers is misplacing or forgetting their passport.
While it might seem hard to believe anyone could leave for the airport without their passport, statistics from Incheon Airport in South Korea show that 74% of the approximately 50,000 emergency passports issued between 2019 and 2023 were due to personal oversight.
Recently, an unusual incident occurred when a pilot forgot his passport, forcing an emergency return of the aircraft.
According to Chinese media outlet Guangming, United Airlines flight UA198, traveling from Los Angeles to Shanghai, was diverted to San Francisco after the pilot realized he had left his passport behind.
This mistake led to an emergency landing at San Francisco International Airport just three hours after takeoff, leaving passengers stranded for around three hours.
A passenger on the flight, identified as Wei, shared that about two hours into the flight, repeated announcements in Chinese informed passengers that the pilot had forgotten his passport, which led to the emergency landing in San Francisco.
Wei further explained that the flight was delayed by six hours. The flight, which was initially scheduled to land in Shanghai at 6:30 PM on Sunday, didn’t arrive until 12:30 AM on Monday.
Upon landing in San Francisco, the airline gave all affected passengers a $30 meal voucher.
After waiting for over three hours at the airport, the stranded passengers could finally board another flight to Shanghai, piloted by a different captain.
The flight that made the emergency return was initially scheduled to pick up passengers in Shanghai and return directly to Los Angeles. However, subsequent flights were affected due to the earlier delay, causing a ripple effect of delays.
As news of the delays spread, passengers rushed to change their flight reservations, leading to a chaotic rebooking process.
Guangming said the emergency landing resulted in an estimated fuel cost of about 300,000 yuan (roughly $41,400).
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