dailynewsnblog
Passengers on a 
United Airlines flight from Washington to Rome spent nearly 12 hours waiting to take off on Friday, only for the flight to be canceled without ever leaving the ground. Transatlantic flight UA884 — operated by one of the airline’s Boeing 777-200ER jets — encountered a series of problems before it was eventually canceled at 4:00 AM the next morning.
The setbacks included a cockpit fault, thunderstorm delays, a crew duty timeout, and a door that would not seal, before an incident involving a pushback tug. Passengers were rebooked on a new flight the next day, with one traveler claiming she was given a voucher of just $175 for the ordeal.
Cockpit Fault, Storms, Crew Timeout And A Tug Incident
Flight UA884 was scheduled to depart Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) at 5:35 PM local time on Friday, October 2, for an overnight flight to Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO). One passenger on board, Rebecca Bliden, told 7News that boarding began at around 4:30 PM. The flight was initially delayed by an unspecified technical problem in the cockpit — by the time the aircraft was ready to depart, thunderstorms had reached Dulles, leading to a further delay.
The aircraft returned to the gate around three hours later to refuel, and passengers were given the option to leave the aircraft. Additionally, the catering had to be replaced because the in-flight meals had been sitting for too long to be served. Another setback struck around six hours after the delays began, when the crew reached its duty-time limit, forcing everyone off the aircraft to wait for a replacement crew.
Sequence Of Events On UA884 | |
|---|---|
Time | Event |
4:30 PM | Passengers board UA884 |
Evening | Cockpit fault and storms delay flight |
3 hours later | 777 returns to gate to refuel |
6 hours into delay | Crew times out; passengers deplane |
Later | Replacement crew boards |
Later | Door-seal problem requires inspection |
4:00 AM | Tug incident sends aircraft back to gate |
Shortly After | UA884 is canceled |
6:55 PM | Passengers depart on UA3028 |
Passengers then reboarded the plane, which remained at the gate for around an hour. They were then told that one of the doors was not sealing properly and needed to be checked by maintenance. The 777 eventually began to push back, but passengers reported hearing a loud bang. The pilot then explained that a band on the pushback tug had snapped and something had struck the aircraft, meaning mechanics had to inspect it back at the gate. The flight was ultimately canceled almost 12 hours after boarding had begun. Bliden told 7News,
“By this time we were on the plane for 12 hours; we didn’t want to be on the plane for another eight hours, on the same plane that had so many issues.”
United Says Replacement Crew Also Timed Out
In a statement, a United spokesperson said the flight’s cancellation was caused by crew duty limits rather than the tug incident itself. After bringing a replacement crew onboard, the pushback incident forced the aircraft back to the gate for a mechanical inspection, using up more time that ultimately led to the replacement crew timing out.
Because the flight never reached Rome, its scheduled return flight, UA885 from Fiumicino to Dulles on Saturday morning, was also canceled. The passengers from UA884 instead flew on UA3028, an additional service operated by another Boeing 777-200ER. It departed Washington just before 7:00 PM on Saturday, more than 25 hours after UA884 was originally scheduled to depart.
According to flight tracking data, the aircraft involved was N798UA, a 28-year-old Boeing 777-200ER delivered to United in 1998. Despite not operating the rescheduled Rome flight, N798UA was cleared to fly after inspection and reassigned to UA982 from Washington Dulles to Athens International Airport (ATH), departing at 5:31 PM on Saturday.
A $175 Voucher After A 25-Hour Delay
According to Bliden, she was given a $175 voucher from United as a goodwill gesture, but is pursuing a full refund from the airline. Under the DOT’s tarmac delay rule, US airlines must offer passengers on international departures the chance to deplane before a tarmac delay reaches four hours, but there is no mandatory requirement for compensation in such instances.
The DOT’s refund rule entitles passengers to a full refund if their flight is canceled and they do not accept alternative travel offers. However, passengers on the canceled return flight from Rome may be entitled to compensation, as it falls under EU regulations. As UA885 was due to depart from an EU airport, it is eligible under the EU’s EC 261 regulations, which would grant compensation of up to $675 (€600) per passenger.
