A Delta Connection flight from Salt Lake City en route to Mexico was turned round just short of its destination after what has been loosely described as a ‘paperwork error.’
Delta flight 4507, operated by SkyWest Airlines, was within one hour of landing at Puerto Vallarta when the bad news was announced.
The pilot told passengers their flight couldn’t land in Mexico due to the administrative lapse.
“It’s something that we wouldn’t have known what to do as pilots as far as this airplane not being allowed to land in Mexico,” the announcement said, which was recorded on a passenger’s phone and broadcast on Utah TV station KSL TV.
A SkyWest spokeswoman said the plane returned to Salt Lake City at approximately 6pm to correct a paperwork issue.
She said the 57 passengers on board were provided with hotel accommodations and were re-booked on a new flight Wednesday morning.
“We apologise to those customers we’ve inconvenienced and are working to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”
But passenger Casey Boyd told the news network:
“It sounds pretty unbelievable, it doesn’t sound like maybe the whole story.”
Boyd said the airline had earlier informed passengers prior to departure that they were using a smaller airplane than originally scheduled, and it is thought noone at the airline passed that information on to the Mexican authorities.
“They’ve taken pretty good care of us. It’s just one less day of vacation,” Boyd added.
