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U.S. Delta Flight Returns to U.S. After Russian Controllers Turn It Away
A U.S. Delta Air Lines flight en route to Japan was forced back to the United States on Thursday after Russian air traffic controllers said it didn't have permission to fly through their air space, an airline spokesman said.
Delta Flight 55, carrying 203 passengers and 15 crew members, was about 20 minutes into Russian air space when controllers there notified the pilots that the flight lacked the proper clearance, Delta spokesman Russ Williams said. He said the plane turned around and re-crossed the Pacific Ocean, landing in San Francisco early Thursday.
Passengers were given overnight accommodations in San Francisco and were being re-booked on flights for later Thursday, Williams said.
"From Delta's perspective, the proper paperwork has been filed and we will certainly be looking into the matter," he said. "This is a normal daily flight and that's why we feel it's more of a clerical or paperwork error."
Williams said the flight path from Atlanta to Narita, Japan, passes through Russian air space every day. He said the plane had been in the air for about 9 hours when it was told to turn around, and the flight back to San Francisco took 5 hours more.
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