United Flight Forced To Lighten Load Before Takeoff 28 Passengers Had To Stay Behind So Jet Could Leave Shortened Runway

A United Airlines flight had to unload 28 passengers early Thursday to get the jet off the ground at Spokane International Airport.

The 7:35 a.m. flight to Chicago was delayed more than an hour as the airline shed enough passengers and luggage to make sure its Boeing 727 could get airborne on a shortened runway.

The unusual incident was triggered, in part, by ongoing resurfacing of the airport’s two runways. Only 6,100 feet of the 9,000-foot runway was available for takeoffs Thursday morning.

“We did have to reduce the weight of the aircraft for safety reasons,” said Joe Hopkins, a United spokesman.

“I’m not sure” what happened, Hopkins said when asked why the airline loaded the plane before realizing the weight problem.

A United manager in Spokane also was unclear, saying, “There was no single major factor. It was very involved. It was a combination of things.” He refused to elaborate.

Spokane airport officials said they gave every airline months of advance warning that repaving the runways means shortened runways for awhile.

“To be honest, we don’t know what happened there,” said Denny Locke, director of the airport’s aviation operations. Our understanding is that they must have sold more seats than they were able to use because of this construction under way.”

Each airline does its own calculations on the amount of fuel, baggage and passengers its planes can shoulder without threatening its ability to take flight.

Marvin Koller, of airport operations, said he heard the United pilot on the radio Thursday morning asking for more runway.

Construction along the intersection of the airport’s two runways temporarily shrank the longest runway to only 6,900 feet by early last week, and to only 6,100 feet by late Wednesday.

The runway will stay at that length through Sunday, then get longer again, Locke said. Construction is expected to be finished in July.