Asiana Plane Returns to Drop Off Wrong Passenger

An Asiana passenger plane returned to Hong Kong airport on Monday after finding a wrong passenger on board.

The plane, which was bound for Incheon International Airport, took off from Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong with 257 aboard passengers but turned back in the skies over Taiwan about an hour and 30 minutes after takeoff, according to airline officials.

Crew belatedly learned that a passenger identified by his surname Park (29) was aboard the plane with a wrong ticket but had booked a seat on Jeju Air.

"While checking boarding passes and passports at the boarding gate, we found a passenger carrying Park's boarding pass and stopped him from boarding," a Jeju Air spokesman said. "We notified Asiana."

Park and the other man had intentionally switched tickets and had their respective baggage checked in accordingly.

But Asiana crew failed to notice at the boarding gate that the name in Park's passport did not match the boarding pass.

The Asiana plane returned to Chek Lap Kok Airport around 4 p.m. and Park was handed over to Hong Kong police.

The plane took off again with a four-hour delay.