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United Airlines flight to STL diverted after a pet was ‘mistakenly’ loaded onto the flight

Passengers on a flight from Newark to St. Louis were diverted to Akron after a pet was mistakenly loaded onto the flight Thursday.
Photo: Flight Aware

ST. LOUIS – United Airlines is making headlines for the third time this week after another pet mishap.

Passengers on a flight from Newark to St. Louis were diverted to Akron after a pet was mistakenly loaded onto the flight Thursday. The pet has since been delivered to its owner.

Statement from United Airlines

United Express flight 3996 from Newark to St. Louis diverted to Akron to drop off a pet that had been loaded onto this flight mistakenly. The pet has been safely delivered to its owner. We provided compensation to all customers on board for the diversion.

One of the passengers on the plane was a man with more than 30 years of experience in the aviation industry as a commercial pilot. He tells 5 On Your Side about an hour into the flight the captain told passengers they flight had “miss-boarded cargo” and diverted the flight to Akron. He asked that his name not be used because he still works in the aviation industry.

In Akron, he says passengers saw a pet crate was the only cargo unloaded before the flight took off again for St. Louis.

“It was a poor choice in my estimation…to have done what they did,” based on his “knowledge and experience in the industry” the aviation veteran said.

On Tuesday, the airline apologized to a family after their dog was placed into an overhead bin and died. READ MORE: United Airlines apologized after family dog dies on flight

On Wednesday, the airline mistakenly shipped a dog to Japan instead of Kansas City.

READ MORE: United back in doghouse after mistakenly shipping German Shepherd to Japan

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