An American Airlines flight was literally weighed down by too much paperwork Monday.
According to The Washington Post, the Los Angeles-bound flight was grounded in Washington, D.C. by 1,400 pounds of what the pilot referred to as “government documents.”
The excess weight was eventually offloaded and the flight continued.
University of Southern California professor, Robert Hernandez was on the flight and tweeted about the amusing delay.
Sooooo… my flight is delayed because it has too much weight. The pilot announced that they are now going to unload 1,400 lbs of FEDERAL PAPERWORK. wut
— Robert Hernandez (@webjournalist) August 6, 2018
American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller confirmed that a flight was delayed about 30 minutes while 1,400 pounds of cargo was removed. He didn’t provide details though, hinting that the captain may have been joking.
Miller also told the Post that American Airlines has a contract with the U.S. Postal Service to transport mail.
“I don’t know if the pilot was kidding or not, but we were overweight,” Hernandez told the Post.
Crews needed to lighten the plane’s load due to the weather conditions, according to Miller, as the intense heat required the plane to be lighter for a safer takeoff.
Last month, a flydubai flight was delayed 10 hours after one of the pilots was discovered to be drunk.
