Air France Jet Stranded in Manchester as Pilot Runs Out of Hours

Passengers on an Air France flight from New York to Paris on Feb. 22 wound up in Manchester after the pilot landed the Airbus A380 superjumbo with 440 travelers prematurely in the U.K. to avoid exceeding maximum work hours.

The flight had already been six hours late when it left New York because of bad weather, according to Paris-based Air France. By the time the double-decker jet touched down in Manchester, the pilot had clocked almost almost 13 hours of work, more than the 11 maximum permitted by European Union regulation, the airline said. Covering the distance from Manchester to Paris typically takes about 1.5 hours on a plane.