On December 26, 2017, ANA flight 175 from Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita had to turn around and return to Los Angeles more than four hours into the flight due to discovery of an unauthorized passenger onboard.
NH175 Turns Around Due to an Unauthorized Passenger
The flight, NH175 operated by ANA’s Boeing 777-300ER (registered JA732A), took off from Los Angeles airport 12:01PM local time, bound for Tokyo Narita.
More than four hours into the flight, however, the cabin crew found out that there was an unauthorized passenger onboard. Following the airline’s security procedure, the aircraft had to turn around and return to Los Angeles where it landed at 7:32PM.
The aircraft took off again – after offloading the passenger in question – around 3:30AM the next day, and is currently en route to Tokyo.
Chrissy Teigen Tweeting About the Situation
The situation came to spotlight when American model Chrissy Teigen (John Legend’s wife) tweeted:
a flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isn’t supposed to be on this plane. Why…why do we all gotta go back, I do not know
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) 2017年12月27日
Then, she shed some more light on the situation:
They keep saying the person had a United ticket. We are on ANA. So basically the boarding pass scanner is just a beedoop machine that makes beedoop noises that register to nowhere
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) 2017年12月27日
Once the aircraft got back into Los Angeles, it seems like everyone had to deboard – and that the police interviewed passengers seated around the unauthorized passenger:
Police were interviewing all the people seated around the mystery person once we got off the plane. Why would they do this! I MUST KNOW MORE
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) 2017年12月27日
And finally, after some other tweets from the “lounge” her and her husband were put in, she tweeted that they were about to get back on their way to Tokyo.
The Eight-Hour Flight to Nowhere
Currently, the flight is a bit less than two hours out of Tokyo Narita.
I am sure everyone onboard is happy to finally be getting to their destination. No doubt the celebrity couple in first class will be happy. But, I am sure, the passengers in economy class that had to endure the eight-hour flight to nowhere will be even happier.
And, I am also sure ANA’s vague explanation and apology will not be enough for any of the passengers.
We apologize to all of our passengers on Flight 175; we failed to deliver the customer service we strive for. Thank you all for your comments and allowing us to connect, learn and serve you better. We welcome ongoing feedback to understand how we can work to make this right.
— All Nippon Airways (@FlyANA_official) 2017年12月27日
In fact, I am really curious to see how this situation unfolds. I am especially eager to know how a passenger with United boarding pass could get on an ANA flight, and how they could only discover it four hours into the flight.
