United Airlines plane was forced to refuel after waiting on a runway for more than 6 hours, but the flight got canceled anyway because the crew timed out

A United Airlines flight was forced to return to the airport after waiting more than six hours on the runway because its crew reached their working-hours limit.

The flight that was supposed to leave Newark and land in Denver was delayed due to bad weather.

The plane returned to the terminal because it didn't have enough fuel for the whole trip.

Hiroko Tabuchi, a New York Times reporter, was one of the passengers on the plane, according to a report.

The plane was taxiing around Newark airport.

Tabuch said she had been on the plane for six hours. United apologized for the delayed response.

Tabuchi was trapped inside the plane.

The plane returned to the gate so passengers could disembark while it was refueled, according to a report.

The passengers got a notification on the United app that the flight had been canceled, but Newark airport staff told them to board the plane.

Tabuchi wrote that the flight was delayed for two hours at the airport.

The flight was called off after nearly nine hours because the crew had reached the number of hours they were allowed to work. Tabuchi said it took another 30 minutes for the plane to get to the gate and passengers to leave.

Insider's request for comment was not immediately responded to by United. Tabuchi was contacted by Insider for comment.

It's not unusual for airline crew timing out. The crew had worked too many hours and the passengers were kicked off the flight. The company told Insider that another group of passengers were left in an airport overnight because the airline couldn't find a place to stay.