A passenger flying from Portland to Jackson Hole through San Francisco reported an alarming incident in which the pilot The passenger, who shared his experience on Reddit, described how the plane, operated by a mobile operator, claimed it was not qualified to land the aircraft at its intended destination. SkyWest Airlines under Alaska Airlines, had to divert to Salt Lake City due to pilot’s lack of qualifications.
According to the passenger’s account, the plane was descending toward Jackson Hole when the pilot made an unexpected announcement: “Hey, I’m really sorry, but since I’m not properly qualified to land in Jackson Hole, we’re going to have to divert to Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ll keep you posted on the next steps.” The plane then landed in Salt Lake City, where passengers had to wait on the runway for over an hour.
During the delay, the pilot reportedly abandoned the plane in what the passenger described as a “walk of shame,” and a replacement pilot was brought in to continue the flight to Jackson Hole. The flight eventually landed at its intended destination, though the passenger noted that it was “perhaps the roughest landing on descent I have ever experienced.” The delay caused the flight to arrive approximately three hours later than scheduled.
The passenger, who expressed frustration at the delay and rough landings, especially considering that both he and his girlfriend are nervous travelers, initially identified the airline as Alaska Airlines. However, it was later clarified in a People report that the flight was operated by SkyWest Airlines.
SkyWest Airlines issued a statement addressing the incident, clarifying that the diversion was due to a paperwork error and not a lack of pilot qualifications. “On Thursday, August 8, SkyWest Airlines Flight 3491, operating as Alaska Airlines from San Francisco to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, landed for a brief period in Salt Lake City to correct a paperwork error involving the flight crew,” the airline said. It added that a new pilot had been hired to complete the flight to Jackson Hole and assured that all pilots involved were qualified to land the aircraft. The diversion, it said, was done out of an “abundance of caution.”
The incident has sparked a debate on Reddit, with users speculating about the cause. Some suggested the pilot may not have met the “special airport” requirements for Jackson Hole, while others pointed to possible “elevated minimum” standards for pilots with fewer hours. Despite the confusion, the airline has pledged to conduct an internal review to prevent similar incidents in the future.
“I think it’s more likely that the captain didn’t meet the ‘special airport’ requirements for JAC, but it was only discovered after departure (probably by the dispatcher). Normally there are systems in place to track these things, but they are sometimes overlooked,” one user said.
Another said: “My ex-husband of 25 years is a pilot in Alaska. There is something called high minimums. Until a pilot reaches a certain number of hours, conditions should be better, i.e. certain visibility, a drier runway, etc. This is probably what happened.”
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