Overview

• Flight 780, equipped with a Boeing 787-9 instead of the usual 787-8, turned back about 70 miles from Naples on June 3.
• The 787-9 variant is 20 feet longer than the 787-8 and requires Category 9 rescue-and-firefighting services, which Naples International does not provide.
• American Airlines cited operational limitations related to aircraft and airport compatibility for diverting the flight.
• Passengers landed at Rome Fiumicino around 9:45 a.m. local time and were bused over 140 miles to Naples in more than two hours.
• Roughly two-and-a-half hours after landing, the same 787-9 departed Rome as Flight 111 bound for Chicago.