A Korean Air flight bound for Hawaii was canceled Sunday night at its transfer point in Japan after a defect was found in the engine’s generator, according to the airline Monday.

The 220 passengers on board flight KE001 were stranded at Narita Airport in Tokyo overnight.


According to Korean Air, the plane could not leave as soon as the generator was fixed because of Narita Airport’s regulations regarding nighttime takeoffs.

Passengers spent the night at the airport lounge because there were no other accommodations readily available, according to a Korean Air spokesman.

The passengers eventually took off from Narita Airport on Monday morning on the same plane, over 13 hours after their original scheduled flight.

The incident is the latest in a string of safety incidents involving Korean Air flights, including an emergency evacuation from a plane at Haneda Airport in Japan in May.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)