United passengers heading from San Francisco to Tel Aviv endured a 14-hour 'flight to nowhere' after the plane turned around

09.10.2023 - 18:42 / insider.com / El Al / Airlines

United Airlines passengers en route from San Francisco to Tel Aviv endured a 14-hour "flight to nowhere" after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday.

According to data from the flight tracking website FlightAware, the Boeing 777 aircraft left California at 8:26 p.m. Friday for the nearly 7,500-mile journey. The flight had originally been scheduled to land in Tel Aviv at 8 p.m. local time Saturday.

About halfway through the flight, as Hamas attacked, the plane made a U-turn over Greenland and headed back to San Francisco, landing at 10:23 a.m. local time Saturday.

"The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority," a United spokesperson told Insider on Monday. "We operated two scheduled flights out of Tel Aviv late Saturday and early Sunday and accommodated our customers, crews, and employee travelers who were at the airport."

The two other flights were from the airline's Washington, DC, and Newark, New Jersey, hubs — both completing their journeys to Tel Aviv and departing back to the US late Saturday and early Sunday.

"Our Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume," United confirmed to Insider.

Dozens of airlines have canceled flights to Israel as the fighting continues, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium and shared with Insider. Among the bunch are carriers like United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Lufthansa, and Air France. 

According to a Monday update on its website, Israeli flag carrier El Al said it is still operating flights as scheduled, explaining it "operates in accordance with the instructions of the Israeli security forces."

British carriers British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways, however, both confirmed to Insider on Monday that they are continuing to serve Israel. Each noted it is closely monitoring the situation and has instated a flexible booking policy.

"The safety and security of our customers and our people always comes first and our flying program to Israel remains under constant review," Virgin told Insider. "We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before traveling to the airport."

United's unexpected detour is not the first time a plane had to turn back to its origin due to unforeseen circumstances.

In January, heavy rain and flooding in New Zealand forced an Auckland-bound Emirates jet to U-turn mid-flight and return to Dubai. The entire journey lasted about 13 hours.

A month later, passengers on an Air New Zealand flight spent 16 hours in the sky after an electrical fire broke out at New York's JFK International Airport, forcing the plane to turn back to Auckland.