Skywest Pilot Diverts After Saying He Wasn’t Qualified For Jackson Hole Landing

A Skywest pilot told his passengers he wasn't qualified to land the E175 he was flying them on to Jackson Hole last Thursday so they went to Salt Lake City instead. The flight, operating as Alaska Airlines Flight 3491, took off from San Francisco as scheduled but spent a couple of hours on the ground in Salt Lake City while another pilot was found to complete the trip. The diversion was reported in a Reddit post that quoted the pilot as telling the passengers over the PA: "Hey, I’m really sorry folks but due to me not having the proper qualification to land in Jackson Hole, we need to divert to Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ll keep you posted on the next steps."

So far, the airline hasn't confirmed the unusual incident, but FlightAware does indeed show the diversion on the Aug. 8 flight. Jackson Hole is notorious for weather issues and it's possible the airline has training requirements for pilots going in there when its anything but CAVU. Weather Underground reported that it was foggy with increasing winds at Jackson Hole around the time the initial crew would have been setting up for the arrival. The weather stayed unsettled through most of the afternoon and the Reddit poster said the eventual landing three hours later was a bumpy one.