Asiana Airlines faced a major international flight disruption this week after the pilot assigned to Flight OZ708 reported his passport missing shortly before departure. The incident unfolded at Clark International Airport (CRK) in the Philippines, causing a delay that stranded 135 passengers for more than 15 hours.

Originally scheduled to depart at 1:35 a.m. local time for Incheon, South Korea, the flight was abruptly grounded when the captain realized he did not have his passport. As immigration officials require crew documentation before clearing an international departure, boarding procedures were immediately halted.

An exhaustive search of the aircraft and nearby airport areas failed to locate the missing document. With no alternative, Asiana Airlines activated its emergency operations protocol and dispatched a replacement pilot from South Korea. The new crew member’s arrival and clearance process resulted in a total delay of 15 hours and 20 minutes.

To support affected passengers, Asiana Airlines arranged overnight accommodations and airport transfers for all 135 travelers. In a formal statement, the airline expressed regret for the unexpected disruption and reaffirmed its focus on passenger care and operational recovery.

The flight was operated by a modern Airbus A321neo, registration HL8533, which had been in service for just over one year.

United Airlines Flight Diverts Mid-Journey After Crew Member Forgets Passport

Just hours later, a similar passport-related issue disrupted United Airlines Flight UA198 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Shanghai (PVG). On March 22, the long-haul flight—using a Boeing 777-300ER—was forced to divert to San Francisco after one of the pilots was found to be without the necessary travel documentation.

The diversion resulted in significant delays, with United Airlines offering passengers $15 meal vouchers while arranging a replacement crew. In a statement, the airline acknowledged the disruption and committed to resuming the flight to Shanghai as quickly as possible.

This marks the second such incident involving a crew passport error on the same transpacific route within a single week, raising questions about procedural gaps in verifying flight crew readiness.

Crew Documentation Lapses Expose Industry-Wide Protocol Weakness

These back-to-back events have drawn attention to a little-discussed vulnerability in international aviation: crew passport verification. While passengers must present their documents prior to boarding, similar oversight for flight crews is often handled differently, and not always uniformly.

Aviation safety experts are now calling for standardized, digital verification systems for crew documentation, especially for international services. As the airline industry continues ramping up operations in the post-pandemic era, carriers are being urged to ensure even the most basic compliance steps are not overlooked.

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