Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The United Airlines passengers that spent an unplanned trip in American Samoa “enjoyed” sipping drinks by the beach and a tour of the island.

Overseas and social media is reporting some of the passengers enjoyed the island tour on New Year’s Eve, after an emergency landing stranded them for around 20 hours.

The group of more than 300 air travelers and crew posted photos from a beach on December 31, with relatives claiming some had even been given a tour of the island during the delay.

However, the group realized they would miss out on a New Year countdown due to crossing the International Date Line, spending New Year’s Eve daytime in American Samoa, but arriving in Sydney on New Year’s Day.

According to Independent UK, the passengers, traveling on United flight 839, had been scheduled to fly from Los Angeles to Sydney on Thursday, December 29, landing on Saturday morning Sydney time.

However, the crew made the decision to perform an emergency landing at Pago Pago Airport on Friday.

During the unexpected day-long layover, some passengers posted photos of themselves drinking on the beach, with the Daily Mail reporting one pilot had bought some McDonald’s during the wait.

Relatives of the stranded travelers took to Twitter to report the unusual situation, with one man saying they had enjoyed VIP treatment on the island to make up for the disruption.

“My daughter is now stranded,” one man wrote at 7:22 p.m on Saturday, around 13 hours after the flight landed on Tutuila. “They showered at [an airport] hangar, got [a] tour of island and [are] drinking beers on deserted beach.”

“My son and granddaughters were on that flight,” wrote another woman, “Just spoke with him and he said the Samoan [people] have been incredibly generous (as they always are) and everyone is being looked after before their flight early tomorrow morning.”

Relatives seemed envious of the New Year’s stopover on a paradise Pacific island, with one woman writing: “My daughter was on this flight. I just spoke with her and she is having a great time in American Samoa!”

However, some said the landing had been stressful, with one claiming the flight had been forced to “circle until sunrise” over the Samoan island due to the runway having insufficient lighting.

Flightradar24 data showed the aircraft had reduced altitude from 38,000 feet to 20,000, circling for some three hours before landing.

A flight bringing the needed part was sent from the US so the group could travel on to Sydney, departing at 3 a.m on Dec 31st. Due to the difference in time zones, it landed in Sydney at 7:01 a.m on Jan 1, 2023.

Of the group missing out on a midnight moment, another man tweeted: “My father is on the flight. The passengers will leave at 3 a.m from American Samoa, passing over the international dateline.

“This means they’ll move a day forward and celebrate New Year’s in the air, about 60 seconds after taking off. Wild.”

Susan Lilley, part of the United rescue team called it “a memorable adventure with heartwarming hospitality”, posting photos of the rescue mission and waiting passengers to Twitter.

“A huge thank you to the amazing HA [Hawaiian Airlines] ground staff that turned the situation into a memorable adventure with heart warming hospitality.”