There and back again. An American Airlines flight suffered from a confidence crisis as it was making its way from Texas to Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea. After flying across the United States, the airplane turned around and made its way back to Dallas. Without an explanation, passengers spent 9 hours flying to and back from the Pacific Ocean.
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This particularly frustrating event was reported by Jimin, an Instagram user who provides skincare and camps in Korea. The video starts with Jimin recording the live flight tracker showing how the plane made an abrupt turn in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "New fear unlocked: Your flight to Korea may go 5 hours and come back with zero explanation," said Jimin's caption.
"'Just relax', they said," continues Jimin while sitting on her seat and eating some Flamin' Hot Cheetos. "American Airlines needs a lesson in effective communication." Her captions later detailed that, reportedly, the reason for the abrupt turn was because "the right side of bathrooms are not working."
She continued: "Pilot asked if anyone was carrying a Phillips screwdriver to help fix the bathroom." Visibly annoyed, she later captioned as they were back in Texas: "Pilot: 'Dallas today has clear skies---.'"
The Instagram reel concludes with Jimin arriving at Dallas Forth Worth airport. "Lost for words," said Jimin. "9 hrs later we're back in Dallas."
Users React, AA Responds
Many users were flabbergasted by Jimin's flight situation. One user said: "'Just relax' would have me reeeeling with anxiety." Another said: "Why didn't they land in Portland ? Why all the way back to Dallas?" Expressing something many would have done, one user said: "I would just go back home at that point."
In a statement provided to the New York Post, American Airlines provided a statement: "On September 7, American Airlines flight 281 with service from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) to Seoul (ICN) returned to DFW due to a maintenance issue."
"The flight landed safely and without incident at DFW, and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team," the statement continues. "We never want to disrupt our customers' travel plans, and we apologize for the inconvenience."
