Sonali Tiwary
A simple mix-up at American Airlines turned into a major headache for travelers heading to Naples, Italy earlier this month.
On June 2, American Airlines Flight AA780 from Philadelphia couldn’t land at its Naples destination because the airline sent a plane that was literally too big for the airport. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner had to make an unexpected detour to Rome when it was just 70 miles from Naples.
The problem? American Airlines usually uses a smaller Boeing 787-8 for this route. While both planes look similar, the 787-9 is 20 feet longer than its smaller cousin. This seemingly small difference matters a lot when it comes to safety.
Every airport has a safety rating called RFFS (Rescue and Fire Fighting Services) that determines which planes can land there. Naples Airport is rated Category 8, which works fine for the 787-8 plane. But the bigger 787-9 needs a Category 9 airport with more firefighting capacity.
When the plane couldn’t land at Naples, passengers had to take a two-hour bus ride covering 145 miles from Rome to reach their original destination.
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“We apologize to them for this disruption to their journey,” an American Airlines spokesperson said, calling it an issue of “operational limitations.”
The airline quickly shuffled its planes around after the mix-up. The too-big 787-9 was sent to Chicago from Rome, while a correctly-sized 787-8 spent the night in Rome before flying to Naples the next day to take passengers back to Philadelphia.
Many travelers wonder what would happen if a plane running low on fuel faced such a situation. Safety experts point out that in genuine emergencies, normal rules can be temporarily set aside. If a plane declares a fuel emergency, air traffic control gives it landing priority regardless of the aircraft type. Safety comes first, and a plane would never be forced to circle until it runs out of fuel.
This incident highlights how even small planning mistakes can cause big problems in air travel. For the Naples-bound passengers, what should have been a quick arrival turned into an unexpected Italian road trip.
