Passengers on Japan Airlines Flight JL331 experience a much longer flight than planned before arriving back at their place of departure. The flight from Tokyo-Haneda to Fukuoka, which normally takes two hours, developed into a “sightseeing flight” that lasted more than seven hours.

The unexpectedly long journey of the passengers is accompanied by a two-hour delay of the flight. This is justified with a change of plane, the arrival at the destination is at 22 p.m. – that’s what the plan was, but it didn’t really work out. This became problematic due to the local landing ban after 22 p.m., because it is forbidden to land after the said time. However, this does not apply to all flights. Connections that arrive late due to the weather are generally allowed to land.

On that day there were even landings after the standard time, but these fall under the exception. Flight JL331 is not classified in this category, because the weather conditions are not to blame for the delayed attempt to land. This results in the rejection and departure of the return flight to Tokyo-Haneda, having previously refueled in Osaka-Kansai.

At 3 a.m. local time there was another landing. However, at the point of departure, i.e. in Tokyo-Haneda, where the passengers started their “errant flight” around seven hours ago. According to Japan Airlines, those affected were then rebooked on other connections. Let's hope they don't end up in Haneda again.