On Tuesday, Beat of Hawaii, an online travel news site, reported on a problem involving a flight from Honolulu to San Francisco.

A Hawaii flight bound for the mainland turned back this morning, circling for three hours before safely landing back in Honolulu. The incident, involving an aging United narrowbody jet, raises fresh concerns—at least for regular Hawaii flyers at Beat of Hawaii—about reliability on long overwater routes, especially when older aircraft are still in rotation.

Unfortunately, we were among the passengers on that flight, which was supposed to get us to the San Francisco airport before 3:30 p.m., with plenty of time to get to our nearby hotel and prepare for dinner with friends.

We have been taking this same flight several times a year over the past 2-3 years. United uses two different aircraft on this route, the older 757 like our flight that day, and newer Boeing 777s. While we enjoy the newer planes, the 757 seems fine as well.

I didn’t notice anything wrong on Tuesday until about a half-hour into the flight when I looked over to the window and saw the ocean instead of the horizon. The plane was in the midst of a turn, and the ocean looked a lot closer than it should have if we had been climbing to our flight altitude.

It was just a few minutes later that the captain, speaking deliberately and calmly, made an announcement. He described the aircraft having three fuel tanks, one in the center and one obn each wibg. The problem, he said, was a pump on the tank on the right wing, which wasn’t working.

He first calmly assured passengers that there was no danger, the plane was fine, and we had plenty of fuel. Not enough to reach San Francisco without access to the third tank, but too much to just turn around and immediately return to Honolulu.

The aircraft, a Boeing 757, was heavier than its recommended safe landing weight. The solution, he told us, was that we needed to burn off something like 16,000 pounds of excess fuel.

That involved two things. First, descending to about 10,000 feet, because planes burn more fuel flying at lower altitudes. After that, he said, we would have to circle for an hour or two before being ready to land in Honolulu. We would be circling just about 100 miles out from the airport.

His calm manner, and his several updates on the timing of our return, kept everyone calm, although all passengers were probably worrying about their connections or later than expected arrivals on the mainland.

The crew tried to speed up the morning meal service and get it done while we were circling.

Finally, about 2-1/2 hours after takeoff, we got down to the desired weight and made our landing back in Honolulu.

After landing, we were told that it would take about an hour to assess the situation, how long the repair would take,and when the delayed flight might depart.

We were resigned to spending several hours in the United Club lounge, and then reboarding the flight. But within a half-hour or so, an alert arrived on our iPhones announcing the flight had been cancelled rather than just delayed.

And that set off a flurry as all the passengers, especially those with connecting flights in San Francisco, scrambled for seats on alternative flights.

We ended up on a 3:30 p.m. flight, scheduled to arrive at SFO just before midnight. The only problem there was that we would not make a planned dinner at a restaurant near the airport, so I had to notify our friends that dinner was off.

And there was a bright spot. Meda and I were apparently at the top of the upgrade list, and were offered an open seat in first class. I deferred to Meda, who happily headed to the front of the plane, while my situation wasn’t too bad, seated in the “economy plus” section with additional leg room, and two empty seats next to me.

I have to commend the pilot for his handling of the situation, his transparency in explaining the problem to us and sharing further information as it became available. And United seemed to absorb most of the passengers into the several flights departing later that same day.

It meant a short night for us, as we had a 10:45 a.m. flight to Vancouver, B.C.

That flight arrived safely and a few minutes ahead of schedule.

If you’re interested, read more of the Beat of Hawaii analysis of the incident.

We arrived in Vancouver on Wednesday without further incident.