Quotes
How does the PILOT of all people forget their passport.
Social media users also slammed the pilot online for the mistake, with one comment on X reading
Apparently, the passengers were given 15 dollar meal vouchers as compensation for wasting 7 hours of their time... Awesome."
In a Reddit thread, a user wrote
The pilot did not have their passport onboard, ... We arranged for a new crew to take our customers to their destination that evening. Customers were provided with meal vouchers and compensation.”
the airline wrote, adding
What would happen though if the plane landed? Surely they would only find out once the plane had landed and the pilot was in the airport? There must be a way to authenticate a pilot other than passports like a back up on some type of system?”
A Reddit user askedNothing horrible. Not sure why they didn’t just continue the flight. The airline would have notified the country ahead of time and he would probably have flown straight back as a passenger.” ... Wow that seems like a pretty costly mistake lol. Not even considering the fuel, they had to give passengers time compensation and food vouchers. As well as getting another crew to fly.”
A third commented ... A fourth wroteInternational airports generally have areas before you get to customs that are for passengers in transit, not entering that country but flying on to another one. The pilot would be required to stay in those areas until they are back on a flight out.”
Another addedIt’s quite embarrassing (for United),
Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based Endau Analytics, an advisory firm that focuses on the aviation industry, told CNN
How could someone mess up this badly at work?”
read a popular RedNote post appearing to be from another Chinese passenger on boardI’m feeling pretty frustrated,
the person told CNN just after landing at LAX late Sunday nightThe pilot did not have their passport onboard,
United said in the statement