A United Airlines flight bound for San Francisco was forced to return to Incheon International Airport after the crew, including the pilot and flight attendants, fell ill from food poisoning.
Flight UA806 departed from Incheon International Airport at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, but had to turn back after reaching Sendai, a city in northeast Japan, according to reports from social media and Incheon International Airport on Monday.
Incheon International Airport officials listed the official reason for the return as “miscellaneous.” Aviation industry sources clarified that while issues like gas leaks are typically not categorized as “miscellaneous,” incidents such as food poisoning are.
A video posted on social media by one of the passengers captured a flight attendant apologizing for the unexpected return. “Today’s plane is returning to Incheon,” the attendant announced. “We had no choice as the flight attendants and pilots have been extremely sick after eating food. Attendants on the ground will be aiding passengers on their trips. We are sorry,” she said.
It remains unclear whether the food poisoning occurred due to food consumed on the flight or prior to boarding.
According to live flight tracker Flightradar24, the flight eventually departed from Incheon International Airport at 12:05 p.m. on Monday and successfully landed at its destination at around 5:55 a.m. on Tuesday.
