ALERT: United Airlines Flight Diverted to San Francisco (May 22, 2017)

May 22, 2017

A United Airlines flight from Shanghai to Newark was forced to make an unexpected stop at San Francisco International Airport. Flight 87 was delayed by several hours in Shanghai, because of an unruly passenger. While that passenger deplaned before the flight departed, the delay forced a stop for a crew change.

Reports the Los Angeles Times:

The unidentified passenger was boarding flight 87 at Shanghai Pudong International Airport when he refused to comply with the crew’s instructions, according to United spokesman Jonathan Guerin. When the passenger was asked to exit the Newark, N.J.-bound flight, he “became increasingly disruptive,” according to the spokesman.

“For safety and security reasons, local law enforcement was called to assist and the customer eventually left the aircraft on his own accord,” Guerin said.

Because of the disruption the passengers had to get off the plane – which eventually had to make an unscheduled stop in San Francisco to get a new crew.

The unruly passenger “refused to comply with crew member instructions and became increasingly disruptive when asked to deplane the aircraft,” United said in its statement.

According to the San Francisco Gate:

The man eventually deplaned voluntarily in Shanghai, according to Jonathan Guerin, a spokesman for United Airlines.

But the three-hour delay caused by his behavior meant that the plane had to land at San Francisco International Airport to get a new crew because the one on board had been working too long. Between the delay at takeoff and the added stop in San Francisco, the disruption delayed the already-lengthy flight by more than seven hours, according to airport records.

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