Pilot forgets passport; delays international flight

A United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai diverted to San Francisco over the weekend after a pilot realised "they forgot their passport"

The Boeing 787-9 left LAX on Saturday for a 13 hours and 50 minutes flight to the Chinese city, Airlive.net reported.

The aircraft flew for about 1 hour and 45 minutes before the crew decided to turn around over Pacific.

The airline initially cited the incident as a “crew-related issue” but CNN reportedone of the pilots realized he forgot his passport. How he was able to depart LAX without a travel document was not explained, but this is the 'new" US.

The flight UA198 was diverted to San Francisco. Passengers were given $15 meal vouchers to make up for the inconvenience.

The flight with the new crew took off around 9 p.m. and landed in Shanghai about six hours behind schedule.

A replacement crew boarded the aircraft later to resume the flight to Shanghai.

United Airlines said in a statement: “Your flight diverted to San Francisco due to an unexpected crew-related issue requiring a new crew."

Why a Japanese passport is the most useful in the world

A Japanese passport is the most useful travel document you could be carrying in 2023.

Japanese passports are the most accepted globally for the fifth straight year, says the Henley Passport Index, which ranks all the world's 199 passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

Japanese citizens can visit 193 destinations out of 227 visa-free, while those of South Korea and Singapore, which are tied in second place, enjoy a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 192.

Germany and Spain are joint third, with visa-free access to 190 destinations worldwide. The UK and the US remain in sixth and seventh places, with scores of 187 and 186.

Australia comes in eighth at 185, maintaining the top 10 spot it has held for the almost two decades the index has been in existence.  

The passport you would least like to hold is that of Afghanistan with a score of just 27.

On a macro level, latest study by Henley & Partners reveals that just 6% of passports worldwide give their holders visa-free access to more than 70% of the global economy.

And only 17% of countries give their passport holders visa-free access to more than four-fifths of the world's 227 destinations.

The Japanese passport gives visa-free access to 85% of the world and, collectively, these countries account for a whopping 98% of the global economy.

India has the world's fifth-largest economy, but its passport holders can access just 59 destinations worldwide visa free. 

For full details see https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index