United Airlines Flight Diverted After Pet is Loaded Onto Wrong Plane

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 08: United Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport on July 8, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Thousands of United Airlines passengers around the world were grounded Wednesday due to a computer glitch. An estimated 3,500 were affected. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Already under scrutiny about a dog dying in an overhead bin and another dog being accidentally sent to Japan, United Airlines on Friday acknowledged its third animal-related mistake in a week.

A flight was diverted to Akron, Ohio, on Thursday after the airline realized a pet had been loaded onto the flight in error, airline spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin told CNN.

Flight 3996 was carrying 33 passengers from Newark, New Jersey, to St. Louis, but the pet was due to fly from New Jersey to Akron. United told CNN the unidentified animal was “safely delivered to its owner.”

United said it offered compensation to all passengers as a result of the diversion. The airline declined to provide details about the compensation.

There were two earlier animal-related mistakes made by United Airlines this week.

Tuesday, a 10-year-old German shepherd named Irgo was flown to Japan when he was supposed to end up in Kansas. In Irgo’s place was a Great Dane that was supposed to be en route to Japan.

Irgo was reunited with his family Thursday. United issued an apology after the discovery of the switched dogs.

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SOURCE: CNN, Amir Vera and Marlena Baldacci