An Alaska Airlines flight was unable to land in Jackson Hole after the pilot told passengers that he did not have “the proper qualification” to land at the airport.

Flights can get diverted for many different reasons. One Alaska Airlines flight was stopped short of its destination after the pilot said he lacked the “proper qualification” to land.

Cowboy State Daily reports Alaska Airlines Flight 3491 ended up at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) when the pilots were unable to land at their scheduled arrival city.

Aircraft Entered Holding Pattern Before Changing Landing to Salt Lake City

According to those on the aircraft, Alaska 3491 was scheduled to go from San Francisco to Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), operated by SkyWest Airlines on an Embraer E175. While the aircraft departed without incident, the trouble began when approaching the Wyoming terminal.

“When we were about to descend into Jackson (literally they already told to prepare for descent), the pilot got on the overhead and said: ‘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,’” one flyer who was aboard the aircraft said on Reddit.

The aircraft entered a holding pattern over Jackson Hole before the pilot made the announcement to the cabin. It ultimately landed at Salt Lake City without incident.

Once landed, flyers waited onboard the flight for around 90 minutes before a new pilot could be found. After a cockpit crew change, the aircraft continued to Jackson Hole without further troubles.

In a statement to Cowboy State Daily, SkyWest said the diversion was to “correct a paperwork error related to the flight crew.”

“All pilots involved were qualified to fly and land the aircraft,” the statement reads. “The flight diverted from Jackson Hole due to an internal administrative error and out of abundance of caution.”

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Feature image courtesy: formulanone via Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED