Ms. Teigen said that she was not as upset by the decision to turn around as might be expected. But she did raise some obvious points: “Why did we all get punished for this one person’s mistake? Why not just land in Tokyo and send the other person back? How is this the better idea, you ask? We all have the same questions.”

Bad weather and mechanical and medical problems are the main reasons that planes turn around. Mr. Petchenik said that airlines were increasingly citing unruly passengers to justify flights being diverted as well. But he did not recall another instance in which a passenger had boarded the wrong plane and was not discovered until after takeoff.

Asked whether he had any other thoughts on the matter, Mr. Petchenik paused a moment.

“No — just that you know, poor guy,” he said. “And poor however many other people there were on the flight. But they’re on their way now, so that’s good.”