What Is The Proper Punishment For This United Airlines Pilot Who Turned The Plane Around 2 Hours Into A Flight Because He Forgot His Passport?

CNN - A United Airlines Boeing 787 jetliner flying from Los Angeles to Shanghai had to turn around last weekend after it was discovered one of the pilots had taken off without a passport, the airline told CNN in a statement.

Flight UA 198 departed LAX at around 2 p.m. Saturday, March 22, with 257 passengers and 13 crew onboard and headed northwest over the Pacific Ocean, bound for China’s largest city.

About two hours later, the plane turned around and was redirected to San Francisco, where it landed around 5 p.m. local time, according to the website FlightAware.

“The pilot did not have their passport onboard,” United said in the statement. “We arranged for a new crew to take our customers to their destination that evening. Customers were provided with meal vouchers and compensation.

”The flight with the new crew took off around 9 p.m. and landed in Shanghai about six hours behind schedule.

Yang Shuhan, a Chinese passenger on board, told CNN that she heard the pilot’s “very frustrated voice” over the intercom, saying he “forgot (his) passport.”

After landing in San Francisco, Yang received two meal vouchers totaling $30, which she used for a meal at a Japanese restaurant in the airport. She said she also filed a compensation claim on United’s website, where she was informed to expect a response within 14 business days.

I shudder to even think about the despicable things that would go through my head after my pilot announced mid-flight that we were turning around because he forgot his passport. I'd say mean things out loud too. Certainly not to the pilot's face. But I would declare to whoever I was traveling with that he should be fired. I might suggest prison time. I might even say that he should be forced to liquidate his assets, empty his bank account, and divvy everything he owns up amongst the passengers as fair compensation. But in my head... I would be running full-blown Saw VI torture fantasies. I would be calling for (in my head) a public execution of not only the pilot, but of all United Airlines employees. Down to the lowest level maintenance worker who accepted the job yesterday, and has yet to work a shift. I would want nothing but the worst things in the world for this pilot who made an innocent, yet highly embarrassing and inconvenient mistake that probably affects his life 10x more than it affects mine. 

By the time we landed back in California, once I'd gotten the insane thoughts out of my system, I'd have leveled out a bit. Of course the thoughts would ramp back up again once I learned I'd be receiving a mere $60 in meal vouchers for the inconvenience, and not at minimum a full refund (which realistically would never happen). But in the end, when I landed in Shanghai only 6 hours late (which as far as international flight delays go, things could be A LOT worse), I'd have completely forgiven him. I'd probably shake the pilot's hand on my way out the plane and say, "Man I'm sorry, I know that sucks. Don't listen to these angry psychos. Shit happens. Thanks for the safe flight!". 

Then I'd move on to being frustrated about the Chinese having the audacity to not speak English better. 

But there really should be some sort of work around for this situation so that they don't have to turn the whole damn plane around. There must be other ways to confirm the identity of a United Airlines pilot. Just have someone back at the airport send a picture of it. Or look him up in the passport database. Physical identification in general seems kind of outdated. Does the pilot have TikTok by chance? Give TikTok a call. I'm sure they've enough face scans. They've probably taken his fingerprints through the phone screen somehow. They probably have more personal information on that pilot than the pilot has on himself. Or if China is really going to sticklers about it, then make the pilot sleep the terminal until he gets back to America. That seems like a fair punishment. "Sorry pal, you fucked up. You aren't getting hotels this trip." The Shanghai airport has everything a person needs to survive for a night. The pilot will be fine. Honestly if I were the pilot, I'd way rather do that than have to make that announcement to my passengers. 

P.S. It's unclear exactly what each passenger received as compensation for the mistake. The one passenger said they received $60 in vouchers, and filed a claim for compensation. But then I found another article from the reputable BlackEnterprise.com saying a passenger told CNN the meal vouchers only totaled $15 per passenger. 

Black Enterprise - Some passengers expressed their own contempt for the amount of compensation received. Yang Shuhan, a Chinese passenger on the flight, told CNN that the meal vouchers only totaled to $15 per traveler. As for the financial compensation for their troubles, United told Shuhan they would resolve her claim within 14 business days.

So maybe some passengers will end up with less or more money as a "We're sorry our pilot forget his fucking passport" from United Airlines.  Just wanted to put that disclaimer out there. Would hate to be the first blogger to ever misreport information at Barstool Sports.