Plane was turned away from airport after flying for 550 miles as it missed closing time by 10 minutes
Topics: Travel, World News
Daisy Phillipson
Featured Image Credit: Flightradar24/Thomas Lenne/Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Travel, World News
Being so late that you miss your flight is one thing, but imagine an entire plane being too late to land.
This was the unfortunate situation facing the passengers of a recent Japan Airlines (JAL) flight that flew for 550 miles, only to have to turn right back around as it missed the airport closing time by 10 minutes.
According to The Asahi Shimbun, the trip was supposed to be a short two-hour journey from Tokyo to Fukuoka.
But JAL told the newspaper that on Sunday, February 19, the plane was turned away by the city's airport as it had just missed the 10pm cutoff time, which is in place due to noise concerns for the nearby residents.
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As such, the pilot had to do a U-turn and take the 335 passengers straight back to Tokyo's Haneda Airport.
And the return journey was anything but straightforward.
Since the plane was low on fuel, it had stop off in Osaka.
When the passengers of flight JAL 331 finally reached their destination, they ended up back where they started.
Thankfully, the airline put them up in a hotel for the night and arranged a one-off flight for the following morning at 10.20am.
And if you're wondering why it was late in the first place, the company is still trying to figure this out.
The airline said that while the trip was scheduled to start at 6.30pm and finish at 8.30pm, the plane didn't actually depart until 8pm.
JAL explained that it is now investigating what caused the delay.
UNILAD has contacted the airline for further comment.
Thankfully, it was able to at least rectify the situation and get everyone to their destination the next day.
The same can't be said for this flight, which was up in the air for 13 hours after New Zealand's largest city suffered severe flooding.
Emirates flight EK448 left Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at 10.30am on Friday, 27 January, and headed to Auckland.
The plane was due to land at its destination 16 hours - and 9,000 miles - later, but it met an issue when Auckland Airport was closed after the city was battered with torrential rain and flooding.
After 13 hours, the flight eventually had to turn back, with FlightAware data showing it had returned to Dubai International Airport just after midnight on Saturday.
Auckland Airport had to close its premises and cancel domestic and international flights after rain left travellers stuck inside the terminal buildings, wading through knee-deep flood water.
In a statement, it said: "Auckland Airport has been assessing the damage to our international terminal and unfortunately determined that no international flights can operate today.
"We know this is extremely frustrating but the safety of passengers is our top priority."