Chattanooga Airport flight diverted in mid-air

A United Airlines flight from Chicago to Chattanooga was diverted in mid-air last week after the discovery that ground service workers and equipment at Lovell Field couldn't handle the plane.

"It was related to the ground service, including equipment, personnel, etc.," said spokeswoman Marissa Snow of SkyWest Airlines, a regional partner for United.

The passengers were put on another plane in Chicago and eventually arrived in Chattanooga, about 4 hours later than usual, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware.

Flight 5277 last Tuesday departed from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport at 2:17 p.m. on a 76-seat Embraer 175, which differed from the 50-seat Canadair RJ200 that's normally used on the 1 hour and 40 minute flight.

Just before the plane reached the Kentucky border it turned back to Chicago, according to the FlightAware, landing at O'Hare at 4:19 p.m.

Passengers were put on a CRJ200, leaving for Chattanooga at 6:03 p.m. and finally landing at Lovell Field at 8:12 p.m.

Snow said in an email that the Embraer 175 sits higher from the ground than the CRJ200. That requires different equipment to off-load once the plane is on the ground, she said. Personnel also need to be trained on that equipment, Snow said.

"The flight landed safely in Chicago, departed for Chattanooga on a different aircraft and landed safely in Chattanooga," Snow said. "We apologized to our passengers for the inconvenience and worked with our partner, United, to provide compensation."

Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport officials declined comment.

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