A Naples-bound American Airlines flight was forced to reroute some 140 miles away because it was too big for the runway — forcing passengers to take a three-hour bus ride to their final destination.
American Airlines Flight 780 was carrying 231 passengers to the Italian city on June 2 when the plane made an abrupt diversion over the Tyrrhenian Sea just 40 miles from its destination, according to FlightAware tracking data.
The plane was forced to divert to the Rome Fiumicino Airport “due to operational limitations,” according to American Airlines, which was operating the flight with the larger Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
An American Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was forced to divert from Naples on June 2. Getty ImagesThe Dreamliner’s wingspan is about 20 feet bigger than the traditional Boeing 787-8 plane that the airline typically flies to Naples.
Aviation enthusiast @xJonNYC, who first shared the incident on X, said the Dreamliner was just too large to land in Naples given the airport’s requirements for rescue and firefighting services.
The regular 787-8 plane, however, fits within Naples’ requirements.
Passengers were dropped off in Rome at around 9:45 a.m. and put on a bus for the more than 140-mile trek to Naples.
The plane was deemed just over the size limit to land at Naples’ international airport. ZUMAPRESS.com
The flight ultimately landed in Rome, leaving passengers to take a three-hour bus ride to their final destination. FlightAware“We apologize to them for this disruption to their journey,” American Airlines said in a statement.
The incident was only one of two that saw an Italian trip begin with a rough start last week, with a Ryanair flight to Milan forced to divert on Wednesday due to severe turbulence from a thunderstorm.
The turbulence, which injured eight people, ultimately left the passengers stuck in Germany and forced on a four-and-a-half-hour bus trip to Milan.
