Passengers aboard a SkyWest flight to Puerto Vallarta , Mexico , were stunned Tuesday when an hour from reaching their sunny vacation destination , their pilot turned the plane around due to 'paperwork issues . ' Flight 4507 departed Salt Lake City International Airport just after noon Tuesday , carrying 57 travelers en route to the popular resort town on the Pacific Ocean . But less than two hours into the three-hour flight , a pilot 's voice came over the intercom to announce that the small Canadair jet will be returning back to Utah . Scroll down for video . Clerical snafu : SkyWest Flight 4507 carrying 57 passengers to Puerto Vallarta , Mexico , Tuesday was forced to turn around and return to Utah due to a paperwork issue . Unpleasant surprise : The plane was about an hour from reaching its destination when a pilot announced the bad news . 'It 's something that we would n't have known what to do as pilots as far as this airplane not being allowed to land in Mexico , ' the crew member uttered over the PA system , according to a cellphone video obtained by KSL . The pilot explained to passengers that he could not land in Puerto Vallarta . Instead , he said the plane will be diverted to Tucson , Arizona , to be refueled before returning to Salt Lake City . 'Again , we do apologize , ' the pilot said over the intercom to the 57 disappointed passengers . Casey Boyd , from Denver , was flying to Mexico on vacation with his wife and child when their plans were unexpectedly derailed by an unspecified clerical error . ‘ No , it sounds pretty unbelievable , ’ Boyd said . ‘ It does n't sound like maybe the whole story. ’ A spokeswoman for SkyWest Airlines stated that Flight 4507 landed in Salt Lake City at around 6pm to correct a 'paperwork issue. ’ Pit stop : Instead of landing at Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta , the SkyWest jet headed to Arizona to be refueled . Back to square one : At around 6pm , the plane landed in Salt Lake City , where passengers were offered hotel rooms and food vouchers for the night . The unfortunate travelers were offered free hotel rooms for the night , issued vouchers for food and other expenses , and rebooked on another flight departing Wednesday morning . ‘ We apologize to those customers we 've inconvenienced and are working to get them on their way as quickly as possible , ’ the statement read . The airline representative did not specify the paperwork issue that kept the SkyWest plane from landing in Mexico Tuesday . Casey Boyd said that before takeoff Tuesday , the gate agent said the flight was overbooked because they were using a smaller plane that originally planned . It has been suggested that perhaps the replacement plane did not have the right documentation to touch down in Puerto Vallarta , but no one noticed the mistake until it was too late .
SkyWest Flight 4507 departed Salt Lake City International Airport Tuesday afternoon , carrying 57 vacationers to Puerto Vallarta . The plane was scheduled for a flight from San Francisco to Mexico City, but the pilot decided not to make that leg of their trip and instead flew directly back home after landing in Mexico.