It was a real flight to nowhere.
Passengers aboard a recent international American Airlines flight were flabbergasted after the plane turned around five hours into the trip — without any explanation.
One of the flummoxed flyers detailed the aerial about-face in a viral Instagram video.
“American Airlines needs a lesson in effective communication,” Jimin Lee, 41, captioned the clip of the incident, which occurred Sept. 7 aboard AA flight 281 from Dallas, Texas, to Seoul, South Korea, the Daily Mail reported.
In the clip, captioned “new fear unlocked,” Lee included footage of a headrest screen that depicted the aircraft’s flight path as it traveled across the contiguous US and part of the Pacific Ocean before turning around and heading back to Texas.
“Just relax and enjoy the rest of our flight,” a flight attendant is heard saying over the intercom.
Lee wrote that her “soul had left” her at that point.
Worst of all, crew members provided “zero explanation” for aborting the flight bound for Incheon International Airport, per the Insta-post.
In a message to The Post, Lee clarified that “the only explanation they gave was the pilot saying the right side of bathrooms were not working.”
The flustered flyer eventually sought solace in snacks she had onboard.
“The only vice I had available to me — Flaming hot [Cheetos],” Lee wrote along with footage of her chowing on the cheese-dusted chips while the flight headed home.
She added that she needed “a ramyun [Korean for instant noodles] and a strong drink.”
When contacted by The Post, American Airlines provided the following statement:
“On September 7, American Airlines flight 281 with service from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) to Seoul (ICN) returned to DFW due to a maintenance issue. The flight landed safely and without incident at DFW, and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team. We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans, and we apologize for the inconvenience.”
The ill-fated flight, which faced a mechanical issue related to aircraft lavatories, eventually landed back in the Lone Star State a whopping “nine hours” after takeoff, per Lee, who wrote she was “lost for words.”
The airline provided passengers overnight accommodations near DFW Airport and a replacement aircraft left for Korea the next day, Sept. 8.
Fortunately, it appears that the Texan indeed made it to Korea on another flight, according to follow-up clips showing her enjoying the sights and delicacies in the East Asian country.
However, Lee told The Post that she “missed a big event I was going to attend on Sunday and had to change multiple work meetings.”
Instagram users were appalled by Lee’s flight from hell, with one writing, “‘Just relax’ would have me reeeeling with anxiety.”
“I hope you didn’t have kids with you! Yikes, that is so scary!” said another.
A third declared: “I avoid AA at all costs.”
However, some armchair air travel experts suggested that the pilots were simply erring on the side of caution and didn’t want to create “mass panic” by announcing the nature of the problem.
While the exact issue remains unclear, air captains have diverted jets for a number of bizarre reasons, from an onslaught of inflight diarrhea to a laptop that was stuck in a seat and posed a fire hazard.
