United Airlines passengers stranded in American Samoa, miss New Year Eve ... trends now
Hundreds of travellers missed out on Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations by more than seven hours after they were stranded on a remote island due to an engine failure and a date line flip.
Around 325 passengers were on United Airlines flight 839 from Los Angeles, which was expected to land in Sydney on Saturday morning in time to see the world famous fireworks and to ring in 2023 later that night.
But the Boeing 787 was forced to make an emergency landing almost two thirds of the way into the flight at American Samoa's Pago Pago Airport due to a mechanical issue with the right engine.
New details have emerged of how the plane was forced to spend an hour circling the runway early Friday before landing because the runway didn't have enough lights for the aircraft to safely land.
Passengers also spent almost a full day touring the island and drinking beers on a deserted beach as a replacement plane made the mercy dash to Pago Pago from Sydney.
The Boeing 787-9 replacement plane left early Saturday but because American Samoa is on the wrong side of the International Date Line, passengers didn't arrive in Sydney until 7.15am Sunday.
Affected travellers and their families have shared mixed reviews of the unplanned detour.
Passengers (pictured at Pago Pago airport) travelling from LA to Sydney were forced to spend almost a full day on a remote island after their plane made
While many had nothing but praise for the hospitality of both island locals and airline staff, others fumed about missing New Year's celebrations, including a US newlywed on her honeymoon.
It's understood the plane had to circle the island for at least an hour to make the emergency landing waiting for the sun to rise because the runways at Pago Pago have no lights.
Adding to the challenge is that the runways are 3,000m (about 10,000 feet) long, just a few hundred metres above the 2,740m (9,000 feet) needed to allow the aircraft to take off and land.
'As a parent whose kid was on this flight, the plane lost one of its two engines ... The plane had to circle Pago Pago for an hour, until daylight, as the 10,000 foot runway does not have lights,' a US man tweeted.
'I'm thankful the runway is 10,000ft as their Boeing 787 needs 9,000 feet. They had to circle the island until sunrise as runway does not have lights.
'We are blessed the and pilots and crew navigated the situation well. The kids and passengers were well cared for by the islanders.'
Passengers spent a day stranded on the idyllic island waiting for the replacement United Airlines plane (pictured at Pago Pago) to arrive
The 325 passengers finally touched down in Sydney around 7.15am on Sunday
Around 4400km from Sydney, Pago Pago is the capital of American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the US located in the South Pacific Ocean, south-east of island nation Samoa.
A United Airlines spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the airline arranged an island tour for passengers along with the
