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American Airlines flight AA281 was en route from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN). The aircraft was five hours into the flight when it changed course and returned to its origin. Passengers on board were not told about the change of plans and did not learn that they were heading back.
An Instagram video posted by @umma.nola details the flight’s path. A flight attendant told passengers to just enjoy the flight without further explanation. In total, passengers spent nine hours on the Boeing 787-9. Commenters speculated that it was an “undeclared missile launch” from North Korea. But, it turns out that it was simply a mechanical issue that was related to the aircraft’s lavatories.
American Airlines released the following statement to The New York Post:
On September 7, American Airlines flight 281 with service from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) to Seoul (ICN) returned to DFW due to a maintenance issue. The flight landed safely and without incident at DFW, and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team. We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans, and we apologize for the inconvenience.”
American provided passengers overnight accommodations near Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and a replacement aircraft left for South Korea the following day.
Anthony’s Take: I can’t imagine how frustrated I’d be to spend nine hours flying to nowhere without clear communication from the pilots. Mechanical issues happen, but the crew should have kept passengers in the know.
(Featured Image Credit: @umma.nola via Instagram.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
