There and back again: How 2 hours turned into 16 for a Japan Airlines flight

For 335 passengers, what was meant to be a straightforward two-hour domestic flight became a 16-hour journey, all because a deadline was missed by minutes. 

On Sunday (Feb 19), a Japan Airlines flight bound for Fukuoka was forced to return to Tokyo's Haneda Airport after it missed a 10pm cutoff time to land. 

Fukuoka Airport is surrounded by residential areas and noise restrictions prohibit flights from landing at the airport between 10pm to 7am without pre-authorisation. 

The flight, JL331, was initially scheduled to depart Tokyo at 6.30pm but was delayed by bad weather. According to flight tracking data, the plane took off at 8.18pm and approached Fukuoka a few minutes after the 10pm curfew. 

Denied permission to land, the plane was forced to turn around. It was rerouted to Kansai International Airport, 45km south of Osaka, to refuel and undergo maintenance checks. 

On arrival, passengers were reportedly given hotels and instructed to wait for a morning flight back to Tokyo Haneda Airport.

The flight eventually departed Osaka at 1.55am and arrived back in Tokyo just before 3am. 

Reports said the airline had covered passengers' taxi fares and hotel stays. They were also offered compensation of 20,000 yen (US$150) and alternative flights.  

A replacement flight departed on Monday at 10.20am and successfully landed in Fukuoka around lunchtime - 16 hours after its original take-off the night before.

OTHER FLIGHTS LANDING AFTER CURFEW

Meanwhile, other flights similarly scheduled to depart from Haneda Airport to Fukuoka were able to land successfully after the airport's curfew on the same day. 

Flight JL333 departed at 7.15pm and landed at Fukuoka airport at 10.13pm and flight JL335 left Tokyo at 7.30pm and landed at 10.16pm. 

Fukuoka Airport officials said that planes may be allowed to land after 10pm if the delay was unavoidable, including in the event of bad weather or congestion on the airport runways. 

However, the officials added that they did not regard JL331's delay as "unavoidable".