Passenger Claims Pilot Said He Didn’t Have ‘Proper Qualification’ to Land Plane — Here's What Really Happened

Mar. 15, 2025

Pilot in the cockpit of an airplane.Photo:Getty

Getty

A plane passenger is opening up about an alleged recent flight experience in which they claim the pilot said he was not qualified to land the plane they were on.

The traveler explained they were heading from Portland, Ore. to Jackson Hole, Wyo. with a layover in San Francisco on Thursday, Aug. 8, per their retelling of the incident onReddit. According to the passenger, the aircraft was beginning its descent into Jackson Hole when the pilot came over the loudspeaker to make the announcement.

“Hey, I’m really sorry folks but due to me not having the proper qualification to land in Jackson Hole, we need to divert to Salt Lake City Utah. We’ll keep you posted on the next steps,” he allegedly said, per the traveler.

The passenger claims that once the plane landed in Salt Lake City, the pilot left the plane “in a walk of shame” and a new pilot came on to fly.

Photo of an Alaska SkyWest plane.AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC

AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC

In their account, the Reddit user said they were flying Alaska Airlines. However, the airline confirmed that it was a SkyWest Airlines flight. In a statement shared with PEOPLE, SkyWest clarified what really happened and emphasized that the pilot was in fact qualified to land the aircraft.

“On Thursday, Aug. 8, SkyWest Airlines flight 3491, operating as Alaska Airlines from San Francisco to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, landed for a short time in Salt Lake City to correct a paperwork error related to the flight crew,” the airline said in the statement.

They confirmed that the flight continued on its way after “a new pilot was secured to operate the flight.”

“All pilots involved were qualified to fly and land the aircraft; the flight diverted from Jackson Hole due to an internal administrative error and out of abundance of caution,” the statement continued. “We apologize to customers for the inconvenience and are conducting an internal review to ensure a similar situation does not occur in the future.”

Jackson Hole, Wyoming.Getty

The Reddit user claims the passengers were left in the dark regarding exactly why the flight needed a new pilot. In their post, they question the series of events and express that transparency from the airline would have been appreciated.

“Overall we landed about 3 hours later than we were supposed to, because of an unqualified pilot?” they questioned, adding that it was “ perhaps the bumpiest landing” they’ve ever experienced.

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Pilots flying an aircraft.Getty

Meanwhile, fellow users flooded the post with their own theories as to what might have happened — but none appear to match what the airline says actually happened.

“My guess is that the pilots were recently qualified to land at JAC (because they would not be allowed to fly the route otherwise – regulations would have triggered a crew swap), but they felt that they were not experienced/confident to deal with the winds or another condition that day,” one wrote.

One user then recalled a recent incident that happened to them in which they claim a flight got delayed because the “pilot was qualified to fly over the Atlantic but not over the Pacific.”

source: people.com