Summary
- An American Airlines flight from New York to Charlotte was recently significantly delayed after a passenger was discovered on board with a fake passport.
- During takeoff, there were problems with the landing gear of the Airbus A321, which required a diversion.
- The passengers were stuck on the ground for about three hours until a new crew could fly the plane safely to Charlotte.
A 
American Airlines The flight from New York to Charlotte was significantly delayed last week after a passenger was allegedly found to be in possession of a fake passport. Adding to the complications were problems with the landing gear that forced a diversion.
Once the plane was back on the ground, passengers waited for over three hours before the flight could continue. However, additional flight attendants and pilots were assigned as the delay had presumably exceeded the rest requirements of the original crew.
Back to the gate
According to The Aviation Herald, AA1023 took off from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and was en route to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). The aircraft, an Airbus A321 with the registration N521UW, operated the flight on Thursday. According to Flightradar24, it pushed back from Gate 17 on time at 08:31. However, immediately after pushing back, the aircraft returned to the gate after the crew was informed that a passenger on board allegedly had a fake passport.
The passenger was removed from the aircraft and after waiting at the gate for about an hour, N521UW pushed back in. After 30 minutes of taxiing, the aircraft finally took off from Runway 13. Flying southeast over Flushing Bay, it turned south over Flushing Meadows Corona Park before making a U-turn and flying west. The aircraft climbed to about 10,000 feet and flew just north of Central Park.
Flying in circles
At this point, the crew reportedly aborted the climb and informed air traffic control that their luggage was stuck in transit. The captain also informed the passengers that the aircraft was experiencing a “Problem with the landing gear.” The plane went into a holding pattern to fix the problem and flew in circles north of Manhattan over the Hudson River for about 35 minutes. Then a passenger reportedly noticed that the landing gear was retracting properly, and shortly afterward the captain announced they were being diverted.
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According to The Aviation Herald, the pilots informed air traffic control that they “had a lot of fuel to play around with,” and decided to divert to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in order to use the longer runway there compared to LGA.
Photo: Flightradar24
The aircraft departed its holding pattern and headed south over Long Island. It flew east of JFK and then southeast before lining up for final approach to runway 4L. N521UW landed safely at 12:01 p.m. and reportedly taxied to Gate 43 in Terminal 8. It reached the gate at about 12:15 p.m. and remained there for approximately three hours.
On to Charlotte
It is unclear whether the passengers were allowed to disembark while still on the ground or what caused the plane’s landing gear issues. A new crew had arrived to operate the plane and it taxied out at about 3:10 p.m.
Photo: Santiparp Wattanaporn | Shutterstock
About half an hour later, the aircraft took off from runway 4L. The flight went smoothly, reaching a cruising altitude of 34,000 feet. After one hour and 30 minutes, the aircraft landed on runway 36R at CLT at 5:10 p.m. – about six hours and 40 minutes after the originally scheduled arrival time.
N521UW is a 15-year-old A321 and was delivered to US Airways in June 2009, according to ch-aviation. By May of this year, the aircraft had completed over 50,100 flight hours in more than 18,360 flight cycles.
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