“I am not qualified to land this flight” while in the air

There’s been a lot of bad news coming out of the airline industry lately. Fares have skyrocketed, planes are experiencing equipment issues, and some airlines are still trying to get back to normal operations after a major data outage. It’s not fun to think about flying.

But the last thing you want to think about is your pilot not being properly equipped to fly your aircraft.

On a recent Alaska Airlines flight from San Francisco to Wyoming, passengers experienced an unexpected diversion and were taken by surprise when the pilot told them he was not “qualified” to land their flight, View From the Wing reports.

This is what happened:

The flight was going from San Francisco to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but had to land in Salt Lake City instead. Imagine how the passengers must have felt when they heard this over the intercom:

“Hey, I’m really sorry guys, but since I don’t have the required qualifications to land in Jackson Hole, we’ll have to divert to Salt Lake City, Utah,” her pilot said, and then dropped this shocking message: “I’m not qualified to land this flight. We’ll keep you updated on next steps.”

After a bumpy landing in Utah, the plane sat on the tarmac for about an hour and a half before a new pilot arrived and took over the aircraft.

Perhaps View From the Wing summed up the reason when they explained that landing in SLC was “difficult” due to the altitude of over 6,500 feet – surrounded by the Teton Mountains.

Alaska Airlines has not made an official statement on the incident; the passengers actually reached their destination only three hours late.

Evan Paul is the moderator of Taste of Country Nightsa syndicated radio show heard nightly from 7pm-midnight on more than 130 country radio stations nationwide. He plays the best new country music and interviews today’s top stars including Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Dan + Shay, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Lady A and more!