United Flight Diverts, Thanks to Absent-Minded Pilot

If you're boarding an international flight, gate agents check to make sure you have your passport. Evidently, they don't make the same check for crew members. A United Airlines flight took off Saturday from Los Angeles bound for Shanghai but had to return to California because a pilot forgot their passport, reports the Independent. Flight UA198 with 257 passengers had been in the air about two hours when it made a U-turn and landed in San Francisco. Passengers got a $15 meal voucher for the snafu.

"Now stuck six plus hours," tweeted a passenger. "Completely unacceptable. United, what compensation are you offering for this total mishandling?" The airline apologized, explaining that it had to sub in an entirely new crew because of the gaffe. The kicker to all this: A post at the View From the Wing reports that the same thing happened on a United flight to Shanghai last week as well. In that case, the mistake was discovered just before takeoff, though it still resulted in a delay of several hours. (More air travel stories.)