United international flight diverted because pilot forgot his passport

[Astro14]

meanwhile the last flight out of Tulsa, OK told me my twic was not a valid form of ID then claimed my drivers license was fake. held me up for an hour before a manager got there and let me though.

Why didn’t you have your passport with you?

Just asking…

 

[BrendanC]

Why didn’t you have your passport with you?

Just asking…

passport stays in the safe unless i am going international. i’ve never once had an issue with an airport accepting my TWIC. considering it is a TSA issued card……

 

[y_p_w]

passport stays in the safe unless i am going international. i’ve never once had an issue with an airport accepting my TWIC. considering it is a TSA issued card……

It’s on the list. Every TSA screener (and I suppose contractor at certain airports like SFO) is supposed to be trained on every single form of ID on the list. 50 states and however many territories. Hundreds of foreign passports and tribal IDs. One TSA issued ID should be easy to remeber.

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification

• Transportation worker identification credential

I carry my passport card in my wallet and typically use it at airports. My original thought was that California was delaying implementing Real ID, but I did eventually use it to enter Canada and return to the US by land or ferry.

 

[DuckRyder]

At least he realized it before arrival, I never leave on a work trip without passport.

Bet that’s a crucial conversation at review time.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

Company requirement to always carry a passport, even when domestic flying.

That said, I just do long , international turns ( don’t get off the aircraft, refuel and come back to Canada ) and nothing will happen if I forget it. It’s not like Canadian CBSA will deny me entry or detain me upon arrival.

I used to fly for an airline in the Caribbean and I was never asked to show my passport when flying to other countries down there. Not sure if they are still so laid back.

 

[Astro14]

At least he realized it before arrival, I never leave on a work trip without passport.

Bet that’s a crucial conversation at review time.

We don’t actually have employee “reviews” in an ordinary sense, as most employment situations do, on a periodic basis, so, I reckon that crucial conversation already happened.

Our periodic, scheduled reviews are in the simulator and involve training and checking of pilot performance.

An issue like this is administrative in nature, and would be handled by the chief pilot. I’m not willing to speculate on the outcome of that review.

As an aside, I carry my passport, license, medical certificate, and radio telephone operator permit in a very nice leather case that I bought for my passport.

This one.

https://saddlebackleather.com/leather-passport-wallet-slim

I carry other critical documents, and items, and part of my packing checklist is to ensure that I have them with me. Were I to misplace even one of those items, I would not be able to perform my job, and I could be subject to disciplinary action, fines, or yep, imprisonment, depending on the nature of the flight, and what item I had, or should not have had, with me.

I think it’s important to know that the airline in question flies over 3000 flights a day, and has 17,000 pilots. So roughly 1,000,000 flights a year, and this is the first time it’s happened that I’m aware of, so, let’s see, well over 10 million flights with one error?

That’s a whole lot better than the previous poster who has forgotten his ID “a couple of times“ we are talking about a pilot error in the one in 10 million range, where his forgetfulness is more like the one in 100 range.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

We don’t actually have employee “reviews” in an ordinary sense, as most employment situations do, on a periodic basis, so, I reckon that crucial conversation already happened.

Our periodic, scheduled reviews are in the simulator and involve training and checking of pilot performance.

An issue like this is administrative in nature, and would be handled by the chief pilot. I’m not willing to speculate on the outcome of that review.

As an aside, I carry my passport, license, medical certificate, and radio telephone operator permit in a very nice leather case that I bought for my passport.

This one.

https://saddlebackleather.com/leather-passport-wallet-slim

I carry other critical documents, and items, and part of my packing checklist is to ensure that I have them with me. Were I to misplace even one of those items, I would not be able to perform my job, and I could be subject to disciplinary action, fines, or yep, imprisonment, depending on the nature of the flight, and what item I had, or should not have had, with me.

I think it’s important to know that the airline in question flies over 3000 flights a day, and has 17,000 pilots. So roughly 1,000,000 flights a year, and this is the first time it’s happened that I’m aware of, so, let’s see, well over 10 million flights with one error?

That’s a whole lot better than the previous poster who has forgotten his ID “a couple of times“ we are talking about a pilot error in the one in 10 million range, where his forgetfulness is more like the one in 100 range.

I am aware of simulator evaluations being cancelled ( TC doesn't give exemptions for pilots not showing up prepared ) because a pilot forgot something.

I have had several problems with cabin crew showing up without the required stuff, or not even being able to get through security because they forgot their security pass.

 

[Astro14]

I am aware of simulator evaluations being cancelled ( TC doesn't give exemptions for pilots not showing up prepared ) because a pilot forgot something.

I have had several problems with cabin crew showing up without the required stuff, or not even being able to get through security because they forgot their security pass.

Well…cabin crew and pilots are two very different demographics…

For us (and I am the Training Center guy that reviews medical, license, passport and RTOP) if a pilot fails to present their required documentation, they are allowed to proceed with training, but a note in their record leaves them unqualified for a flight.

They have to present the documents to their Chief Pilot (or rep) for that note to get cleared and allow them to actually fly.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

Well…cabin crew and pilots are two very different demographics…

For us (and I am the Training Center guy that reviews medical, license, passport and RTOP) if a pilot fails to present their required documentation, they are allowed to proceed with training, but a note in their record leaves them unqualified for a flight.

They have to present the documents to their Chief Pilot (or rep) for that note to get cleared and allow them to actually fly.

Yeah but they still cause delays if they don't show up with the required stuff and passengers are affected.

We are not allowed to do training if we don't have the required stuff ( Transport Canada policy ).

 

[y_p_w]

I think it’s important to know that the airline in question flies over 3000 flights a day, and has 17,000 pilots. So roughly 1,000,000 flights a year, and this is the first time it’s happened that I’m aware of, so, let’s see, well over 10 million flights with one error?

Reports are that a pilot forgetting a passport happened on the same flight number earlier the same week, although that was discovered before takeoff. Not sure if they were on the runway and returned.

 

[Astro14]

Reports are that a pilot forgetting a passport happened on the same flight number earlier the same week, although that was discovered before takeoff. Not sure if they were on the runway and returned.

I hadn’t heard that. But I imagine that crews are double checking passports because of what the Chinese will do to a pilot who arrives without a passport.

I’ve been to China many times.

I will not ever go again.

It’s personal preference, but after my return to active duty, I got a couple of promotions, and worked on some sensitive stuff.

I am quite certain that their government knows who I am and I don’t care to be followed, have my room bugged, articles searched, electronics scanned, and everything else they do routinely. Absolutely not worth it.

I’ve seen them grab a protester, right in front of me, as I approached the Forbidden City. She held up a sign, I heard a camera click, and two guys in suits were on her in seconds. They came out of the crowd from behind me. My tail? Maybe. Maybe not, but secret police were within a few meters of me as I visited downtown Beijing, and I was a much lower value target back then.

 

[edyvw]

Let’s examine what I am talking about. First, throw out your map. They’re useless. The Mercator projection distorts everything.

The shortest distance between two points across the surface of a sphere is a line defined by a plane that goes through the center of the sphere. The line on a globe is straight, if you look at the globe so that the center, and the two points, are in the same plane.

It looks like this:

View attachment 269894

A straight line. On a map, it looks like a big arc, conventionally called a “great circle” but that’s because maps are projecting a spherical surface onto a flat one, and there are distortions.

Let’s zoom in on the West Coast a bit. Same route. Just zoomed in. Look how close this flight is to SFO. SFO is much closer.

Now, there are some practical realities about air traffic routes, and slight adjustments for wind, but this is about the pure geometry of the flight.

View attachment 269896

OK, whatever. Like the earth is not flat.

 

[y_p_w]

I hadn’t heard that. But I imagine that crews are double checking passports because of what the Chinese will do to a pilot who arrives without a passport.

I’ve been to China many times.

I will not ever go again.

It’s personal preference, but after my return to active duty, I got a couple of promotions, and worked on some sensitive stuff.

I am quite certain that their government knows who I am and I don’t care to be followed, have my room bugged, articles searched, electronics scanned, and everything else they do routinely. Absolutely not worth it.

I’ve seen them grab a protester, right in front of me, as I approached the Forbidden City. She held up a sign, I heard a camera click, and two guys in suits were on her in seconds. They came out of the crowd from behind me. My tail? Maybe. Maybe not, but secret police were within a few meters of me as I visited downtown Beijing, and I was a much lower value target back then.

I know someone who worked for a defense contractor (had a security clearance) and visited China a lot. Apparently he had to go through a lot of reviews and questioning because of that. He needed permission to go to China at least when he had an active security clearance. He was was born in China (I think under Japanese rule) escaped to Taiwan, and educated and settled in the United States. I doubt he was very chatty about anything secret. But he was well respected and apparently gave a few lectures while he was visiting China.

As far as the previous incident goes, only a few articles have mentioned it, like the second one I linked. A different article mentioned it was the same flight number.

https://viewfromthewing.com/united-...ek-operates-shanghai-flight-without-passport/​

Ok, mistakes happen. But the same thing happened to another United flight to Shanghai last week, too! In that case they caught it prior to takeoff. The flight delayed several hours while they brought in a new pilot to operate the aircraft.​

 

[y_p_w]

They were actually a bit more generous with the meal vouchers than just $15. Or maybe this passenger complained and got another one?

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/24/travel/plane-turns-around-pilot-forgets-passport/index.html​

After landing in San Francisco, Yang received two meal vouchers totaling $30, which she used for a meal at a Japanese restaurant in the airport. She said she also filed a compensation claim on United’s website, where she was informed to expect a response within 14 business days.​

 

[PandaBear]

Going into a hostile country if you have a possibility of them troubling you make sense. However I still think if this is such a concern they should not assign certain pilots flying into such countries. If they really want to give you some headaches they probably could give you trouble regardless of you remember your passport or not.

I have a distance relative who's a flight attendant, and he did say there is backup pilots and flight attendants who could fill in just in case the designated pilots and crews are not ready. Is that a problem if they send an extra pilot there on another flight to fill in the backup, than 3 hours of flight and delaying everything for everyone afterward? I'm sure there are delayed flights causing many to miss connections and that would be a huge cost for everyone airline included too.

 

[Astro14]

Going into a hostile country if you have a possibility of them troubling you make sense. However I still think if this is such a concern they should not assign certain pilots flying into such countries. If they really want to give you some headaches they probably could give you trouble regardless of you remember your passport or not.

I have a distance relative who's a flight attendant, and he did say there is backup pilots and flight attendants who could fill in just in case the designated pilots and crews are not ready. Is that a problem if they send an extra pilot there on another flight to fill in the backup, than 3 hours of flight and delaying everything for everyone afterward? I'm sure there are delayed flights causing many to miss connections and that would be a huge cost for everyone airline included too.

Not really the company’s job to manage your own personal concerns.

If you don’t wanna go to China, then don’t bid to fly the 787, or bid it with enough seniority that you can fly to other places.

There were guys who didn’t wanna get vaccinations, and the Chinese require a whole slew of vaccinations. Well, then bid and fly a domestic airplane, or stick to the Caribbean, or go to Europe.

But because pilots have a choice in what aircraft they bid, and they know what routes those aircraft fly, this is an individual pilot decision and a personal responsibility, not a company one.

 

[y_p_w]

Not really the company’s job to manage your own personal concerns.

If you don’t wanna go to China, then don’t bid to fly the 787, or bid it with enough seniority that you can fly to other places.

Their guys who didn’t wanna get vaccinations, and the Chinese require a whole slew of vaccinations. Well, then bid and fly a domestic airplane, or stick to the Caribbean, or go to Europe.

But because pilots have a choice in what aircraft they bid, and they know what routes those aircraft fly, this is an individual pilot decision and a personal responsibility, not a company one.

Just curious what happens if a pilot isn't allowed to visit a particular country. I've heard of people not being allowed into certain countries.