JetBlue flight to St Kitts turns back to New York due to mechanical issue

St Kitts and Nevis: A JetBlue Airways A320 flight, JBU296, bound for St Kitts and Nevis from John F Kennedy International in New York, had to turn back shortly after departure on Sunday.

According to the sources at JFK, the flight experienced an unspecified mechanical problem which forced the pilots to return to the airport.

Not only this, but a passenger onboard also shared the details of the incident and said that he was headed back home to St Kitts and Nevis on flight 296 JetBlue, which departed JPF at 10:20 am.

The passenger added, “Only after being in the air for 1 hour and 30 mins the captained announced that he is headed back to JFK because one of his navigation screen was not working and he is not comfortable continuing on the journey to St. Kitts without it.”

He further said that this was a packed flight, and passengers were very upset and cussing the captain for getting them back to New York.
“So the flight returned to JFK, everyone deplaned, and the new plane and flight departure time was 2:00 pm,” he added. 

On the other hand, in order to make up for the inconvenience caused, the airline gave all passengers $24 food vouchers and $75 voucher for a future flight before they boarded the new flight.

While the delay in arrival time had people cursing the airline and the captain but netizens say that it was for their own safety and the captain just avoided any chances of a worse situation.

“So what's the fuss about? Seems the captain did the right thing, and JetBlue not only fed them but got them on another flight in less than 4 hours,” wrote a user named Tamara Liddie, while another user claimed, “Captain returned because that’s where they can get a new operable plane plus crew if needed, and another plane can be fixed. If they continued on and landed in SKB, the plane would be there for days, and if a part was needed, it may not be on the island.”