Monday, March 24, 2025 A United Airlines flight traveling from Los Angeles (LAX) to Shanghai (PVG) had to divert to San Francisco (SFO) on Saturday, March 22, 2025, due to an unusual incident involving one of the pilots forgetting their passport. The Boeing 777-300ER, which had already taken off, was forced to return to LAX after it became clear that the pilot did not possess the necessary documentation for international travel. The diversion caused a delay and required the airline to arrange a replacement crew.
While passengers on Flight UA198 waited for the crew change, they were given $15 meal vouchers to help offset the disruption. The flight eventually resumed its journey to Shanghai, though it did so much later than originally scheduled. This incident marks the second time in less than a week that a passport-related issue has disrupted this flight route.
The first occurrence was identified before departure and resulted in a multi-hour delay as the airline worked to find a substitute pilot. These repeated lapses have raised questions about the consistency of documentation checks for flight crew members. Despite strict security measures for passengers, international flights require gate agents to verify passengers’ passports along with their boarding passes before allowing them to board.
However, the same level of scrutiny does not seem to be consistently applied to flight crews, which has led to concerns about potential gaps in international travel procedures. The cons.
