Unbelievable reason American Airlines flight to Naples was forced to divert 140 miles away from its destination
The pilot explained the situation over the intercom somewhere over the Tyrrhenian Sea, as the cabin full of hundreds of sleepy-eyed passengers prepared for a smooth descent into sun-soaked Naples.
'Folks,' he said, 'this is your captain speaking. I'm sorry to say, we unfortunately need to divert, as we realized the plane we've been flying across the Atlantic all night isn't actually authorized to land at our destination airport…'
The aircraft, American Airlines Flight 780 on June 2, had just completed an eight-hour journey from Philadelphia, traversing the Atlantic and multiple time zones, only to be turned away as the pilots prepared their approach.
Before the plane had left the US, American Airlines had swapped out their usual Boeing 787-8 aircraft for a slightly larger Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Such kinds of aircraft substitutions aren't uncommon because of maintenance schedules or operational reasons and on paper, the change seemed harmless enough - the 787-9 is only about 20 feet longer than the 787-8 and boasts similar capabilities.
But on this particular route, from Philadelphia to Naples, those extra 20 feet meant the plane was not authorized to land.
Just as the plane approached southern Italy and began its descent, air traffic control informed the flight crew that Naples Capodichino Airport could not accommodate the 787-9 due to specific operational restrictions.
Despite the clear skies and calm conditions, Naples Airport is only allowed to receive the 787-8 specific model of Dreamliner.
Instead, the aircraft banked northwards and headed for Rome's Fiumicino Airport, nearly 140 miles away.
Aviation insider @xJonNYC, who first broke the story on social media, called it a 'rough reason for a diversion'.
American Airlines later confirmed the incident, citing only 'operational limitations' and offering a perfunctory apology to the 231 passengers and 11 crew onboard.
'We apologize to them for this disruption to their journey,' the airline said in a statement.
The passengers made their surprise touchdown in the Italian capital but with no spare aircraft on hand to complete the final leg to Naples customers were placed on buses for the final three-hour journey south.
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