Korean Air flight bound for San Francisco was diverted to Japan over the weekend as it neared US airspace after authorities discovered a passenger was on a US government's no-fly list, the airline said on Tuesday.
The passenger, a male US citizen of Pakistani origin traveling with four family members, boarded the Korean Air flight in Bangkok on Sunday with a stopover in Incheon in South Korea, an airline official said.
The plane landed early Monday at Narita Airport, near Tokyo, where the man was questioned by US authorities.
"The man was the person on the no-fly list but he should not have been on it," the official said, but he did not offer details as to why the man should not have been on the list.
Five hours into the trans-Pacific flight, and as the plane was nearing US airspace, the US Transportation Security Administration notified the airline that the person was on the no-fly list and the plane "was not going to land in the United States", the official said.
The man, who was not identified, was allowed to travel to the United States after questioning.
