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A United Airlines plane bound for Tennessee returned to the Chicago, Illinois airport, mid-flight, after the pilot had realized that the plane was "too big" for land in the destination airport.
The unusual incident occurred on October 16, when the United 5277 flight pilot advised passengers that he would turn around and return to Chicago's O. Hare International Airport because the metro from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was not ready to handle the size of the plane.
In addition, two text messages were sent to all passengers of the airline to give them more details about the situation. One of them read: "Your 14:13 [local time, 3:13 p.m. EDT] The United flight to Chattanooga is delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. It's an unusual situation and we are working hard to solve it. We appreciate your time and we are sorry for the inconvenience. & # 39; & # 39;
Another added: "We are sorry to be back in Chicago.Chattanooga Airport is not able to meet the ground operational requirements of your current aircraft type. We assigned a new plane to your flight. "
Vince Fallon, one of the passengers present in the flight, told USA Today that the plane had been changed at the last minute at O 'Hare airport before takeoff due to a mechanical problem . Although their seats were reassigned after the transition from one regional jet to another, there was little delay in take-off.
The flight deemed "too big" for Chattanooga was an Embraer 175 with 76 seats, although only 50 seats were occupied in the aircraft.
While the flight was originally scheduled to land at Chattanooga at 5pm. HAE, he returned to Chicago airport at 4:29 pm. (5:29 pm EDT) As the new flight was to take place after one hour, the passengers received Cheez-Its, pretzels and water.
"We were only told that there was an error, saying we could catch the biggest plane for Chattanooga, but no real explanation," said Jill Lohsen, another flight passenger.
Finally, the passengers were transferred to a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ 200, which the company generally used for its flights from Chicago to Chattanooga. The flight arrived at destination around 20:30. EDT, more than three hours after the originally scheduled arrival time.
All passengers received a refund for the Chicago to Chattanooga journey, as well as $ 300 flight vouchers or airline miles for their problems.
Lohsen said she had no idea of the pilot's decision to turn around, claiming to have flown on large aircraft of the same size, which have always landed in Chattanooga.
"The pilot and the flight attendants did not have any information about us and kept saying that they were going to find out when they landed," she said.
According to Point Guy, one runway at Chattanooga Airport was 7,400 feet long, which was more than enough to land on Embraer 175, which required a minimum runway length of 4,130 feet. The airport would also have traffic lanes that can accommodate a Boeing 757, an aircraft twice as big as the Embraer E175.
Spokesman SkyWest Airlines, a United Airlines partner, Marissa Snow, vaguely explained the reason for the plane's turnaround, with the Embraer E175 being "a different aircraft than the ground staff." She did not explained why the airline did not inquire about the lack of competent ground crew at the destination airport prior to take-off.
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