It happened again: Delta passengers endured a 5-hour flight to nowhere, ending up back at JFK

The flight to nowhere involved a Delta Boeing 767 (not pictured.)

Hundreds of passengers endured a five-hour flight to nowhere as their Delta Air Lines plane turned back.

The Boeing 767 left New York’s JFK Airport for Edinburgh, Scotland, at about 10 p.m. ET on November 24.

FlightAware shows that Flight 208 had just reached the Atlantic Ocean when it turned back over the coast of Newfoundland.

Delta said the flight crew observed a potential engine issue and followed established procedures to return to JFK.

The 767 landed back in New York at about 3 a.m., some five hours after departing.

Delta said 212 passengers and 11 crew members were on board. Passengers were given accommodations and meals before leaving New York again at 10 a.m., about 12 hours after their initial departure.

“Delta apologizes to our customers for the delay in their travels and we appreciate their patience,” the airline said in a statement shared with B-17. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people.”

It’s not the only example of a flight to nowhere in recent weeks.

On Sunday, a KLM Boeing 777 U-turned over the Atlantic, leaving passengers with a four-hour flight to nowhere.

In late October, a British Airways Boeing 777 that experienced a problem over the Atlantic turned back to London and landed at Heathrow nine hours after takeoff.

For carriers flying over the Atlantic, returning to the airport is often the best decision when something goes wrong: It’s typically simpler for airlines to reroute passengers and fix planes back at their hub airports than abroad.