First case in history: a flight was delayed at a US airport because of a robot passenger
An hour-long delay at the Oakland, California airport is what results from attempts to force a humanoid robot to fly economy class.
An hour-long delay at the Oakland, California airport is what results from attempts to force a humanoid robot to fly economy class.
During the trip from Oakland to San Diego, a team of employees from Elite Event Robotics transported Bebop, a 35 kg robot that appears to be a Unitree G1 model, writes Futurism.
It takes 7.5 hours to drive from Oakland to San Diego, so flying seemed like a logical solution. However, when the team arrived with Bebop, Southwest Airlines said they couldn’t check the robot in as luggage due to weight restrictions. When that plan fell through, they bought the robot a seat on the plane—and that’s where the real trouble started.
According to the robot's attendants, the flight attendants were — quite rightly — concerned about how the unusual passenger would behave during the flight.
Elite Event Robotics employee Ben-Abraham told the media that the crew began to ask in detail about the type of batteries and other technical specifications, wanting to personally check everything. While these questions and inspections were ongoing, Ben-Abraham monitored the flight online, where the status “delayed on the runway” appeared every now and then.
The argument reportedly lasted for over an hour, during which the plane sat motionless on the runway. Southwest eventually confiscated the Bebop's lithium battery, arguing that it exceeded the company's size restrictions.
It appears to be the first flight delay in history caused by a humanoid robot.
For reference
The Unitree G1 is a Chinese entry-level humanoid robot (priced between $14,240 and $16,000) created by Unitree Robotics. It is a compact (approximately 127-132 cm tall, 35 kg) robot designed for scientific research, AI training, service tasks, and demonstrates high flexibility, parkour, martial arts, and complex manipulation capabilities.
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