Plane turns back 12 hours into 14-hour flight instead of completing journey
Passengers are livid after an American Airlines plane diverted back to the US a dozen hours into a 14-hour flight to Japan.
American Airlines Flight 167 departed John F Kennedy International Airport at 10.45am on Monday for Haneda Airport in Tokyo, FlightAware shows.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner traveled across the continental US and was off the coast of Alaska above the Pacific Ocean when the pilot received a message to turn back around.
Instead of continuing to Asia or returning to New York City, the plane diverted to Dallas Forth Worth International Airport in Texas, 12 hours into the journey that should have taken just two more hours to arrive at the original destination.
After turning back, the plane flew five hours to halfway through the continental US and touched down in Texas at 10.12pm local time.
American Airlines told FOX 4 that the reason for the diversion was a maintenance issue.
It was not immediately clear why the aircraft did not land in the West Coast or closer to be serviced.
An upset passenger wrote on social media: ‘Spent $2500 a person on premium economy from JFK to Tokyo. @AmericanAir diverts us to DFW, reserves us a room in a Super 8 & gives us $12 food vouchers.
‘This is not going to end well.’
A Reddit user claimed that a meal service was not provided ‘so we’ve gone 14 hours with only dried snap peas as a snack’, according to Business Insider.
Customers were reportedly given hotel rooms in Texas and departed on a 13-hour flight to Haneda.
It is the latest long-haul flight to make a U-turn and leave passengers incredibly frustrated.
In November, a British Airways plane that departed London Gatwick Airport for an 11 hours and 40 minutes flight to Costa Rica turned around five hours in as it was flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Flightradar24 showed that the Boeing 777 was nearly in the middle of the Atlantic and halfway through the trip when it redirected to its departure point.
One passenger called it a ‘mess’ and said there was ‘no word of compensation or another flight’.
The reason for the U-turn was similar to the reason that American Airlines gave.
‘We’re sorry for the delay in our customers’ travel plans after their aircraft experienced a minor technical issue,’ British Airways told Metro at the time.
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