San Francisco - Saba:
A United Airlines Boeing 787 bound from Los Angeles to China was forced to return to its departure airport and deviate from its route.
The plane turned back after one of the pilots discovered he had taken off without his passport, the airline said in a statement.
Flight 198 took off from Los Angeles International Airport at 2:00 p.m. last Saturday, carrying 257 passengers and 13 crew members, and headed northwest over the Pacific Ocean to Shanghai.
Two hours later, the plane turned back and headed to San Francisco, where it landed around 5:00 p.m., according to FlightAware.
United Airlines stated in a statement: "The pilot's passport was not on board. We arranged for a new crew to fly our customers to their destination that evening. They were provided with meal vouchers and compensation." According to CNN, the new crew took off around 9 p.m. and landed in Shanghai about six hours later than scheduled.
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