Seems like they lacked the fuel? I don't have a globe handy, but a quick glance at Google Maps suggests Boston is slightly closer to Johannesburg than Atlanta is.
12,638 km - Distance from Johannesburg to Boston
13,558 km - Distance from Johannesburg to Atlanta
I had to look it up to believe it
Why aren't flights from South Africa banned yet?
Why is this on HN? Flights divert to refuel all the time.
In December 2019, a deadly breakout of novel coronavirus SARS‑CoV‑2 spread and was declared a global pandemic. Recently, the WHO declared one particular variant first discovered in South Africa as a "variant of concern", and the US imposed a loose "travel ban" on noncitizens from this country. This is one of the last flights out of South Africa before the ban is set to be enforced.
Is “technical specifications” a normal way to put this? Seems odd to me, but I also don’t call my code “codes.”
this is all starting to feel either like "The Cassandra Crossing" or "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street"... Probably the later :(
Maybe a covert hand-delivered sample of some sorts?