On 24 September, a SunExpress Germany Airbus A330 (D-AXGE) operating for Eurowings and flying from Cologne to Seattle as EW168 supposed to leave at 14:00 (UTC +2) but departed only at 20:15. While the aircraft was crossing over Greenland, the pilots headed back to Cologne.
“Due to our late departure, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection denied the landing at Seattle hence the aircraft headed back to Cologne,” Eurowings announced in a statement.
Bad luck for Eurowings: the previous EW168 flight had already been cancelled two days earlier!
Eurowings flight #EW168 (operated by SunExpress Germany) from Cologne to Seattle returned to CGN last night – according to Eurowings, the US Border Force denied the landing in Seattle due to the delayed departure in Cologne https://t.co/UAq96LJK65 pic.twitter.com/wO5PD3sj96
— International Flight Network (@FlightIntl) September 25, 2018
@eurowings What is happening to flight #EW168? Returning to CGN? Why?
— Elena Mayer-Besting (@mayerbesting) September 25, 2018
Where are they. No one met us after deboarding the plane. Now everyone is standing outside the airport. What the hell is going on here
— Karsten (@jonnygoska) September 25, 2018
Wasn’t there really a better solution, like flying to Vancouver or San Francisco u til Seattle would grant the authorisation to land?