Unidentified Luggage Forces Rerouting of Cebu-bound Plane

A Korean passenger plane on its way to the Philippines landed on Jeju Island yesterday after an unidentified piece of luggage was found onboard.

Asiana Airlines said its flight OZ 709 departed from Incheon International Airport around 8:20 p.m. Saturday for Cebu, but flew to Jeju instead after the unidentified baggage was found. The luggage was unloaded three hours after take-off.

“This happened because two passengers who were supposed to board OZ 709 took OZ 717, the next flight that departed half an hour later, leaving their luggage in the other plane,” Asiana said.

“If passengers fail to appear at their gates on time, their luggage should be unloaded. Mistakes do happen, however.”

The flight OZ 709 is known to have had 170 passengers.

“The flight unloaded the luggage of the two passengers at the Jeju airport and left for Cebu,” the airliner said. “We will properly compensate passengers for their inconvenience under company regulations.”

run-juno@donga.com