It’s quite embarrassing’: China-bound United flight turns around after pilot forgets passport

By Joyce Jiang and Aaron Cooper, CNN

3 minute read

Updated 2:02 AM EDT, Tue March 25, 2025

Passenger Yang Shuhan, who shared this image with CNN, was among those onboard the United Airlines Boeing 787 jetliner that turned around two hours after departing from Los Angeles.

Passenger Yang Shuhan, who shared this image with CNN, was among those onboard the United Airlines Boeing 787 jetliner that turned around two hours after departing from Los Angeles. Yang Shuhan

Hong Kong/New York

CNN

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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.