Travelers endured a half-day flight to nowhere after their plane u-turned over the Arctic 7 hours into the journey

Passengers flying from Japan to Europe endured a 14-hour-long flight to nowhere on Tuesday after an engine issue.

All Nippon Airways Flight 223 left Tokyo around 11 a.m. and was scheduled to land in Frankfurt, Germany, about 14 hours later.

However, over six hours into the journey, it turned around while flying over the Arctic Ocean, north of Alaska.

Flight-tracking data shows how the Boeing 787 then headed back to the Japanese capital.

It took another eight hours to reach Tokyo's Haneda Airport, where Flight 223 touched down around 1 a.m.

The plane diverted due to a "low engine oil level," an ANA spokesperson told Business Insider.

Engine oil differs from jet fuel and is used to lubricate and cool the moving parts inside the engine. Returning to Tokyo, the airline's main hub, would mean more resources for maintenance and repair.

The spokesperson added that the flight departed again on Wednesday morning, with a change of aircraft and crew.

Data from Flightradar24 shows the new plane departed at around 7:30 a.m. and is supposed to land in Frankfurt around 1 p.m. local time. That's about 20 hours later than passengers initially expected to get there.

"The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority," the spokesperson said. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers by this extensive delay."

Since the plane turned around roughly halfway through a huge journey, it was a particularly gruelling flight to nowhere — but not the longest.

Last June, a Qantas flight to Paris returned to Perth after 15 hours. It was mid-flight when Iran launched strikes against a US air base in Qatar, closing some of the world's most congested airspace.

And in 2023, Air New Zealand passengers had a 16-hour flight to nowhere after an electrical fire in a terminal at New York's JFK Airport.

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