Officials at Japan Airlines apparently started asking passengers on an overbooked flight if they were willing to take other planes only about 45 minutes before the scheduled departure time.

The eventually cancelled flight was scheduled to leave Tokyo's Haneda Airport around 8 PM on Wednesday, as JAL's final flight for Fukuoka on the day.

The airline said it accepted 401 reservations, 26 more than the airliner's capacity of 375.

The airline's staff reportedly began to ask if some passengers would be willing to take other flights about 45 minutes before the planned departure time, and it took about one hour to resolve the overbooking.

It was then too late for the flight to arrive in Fukuoka by the airport's 10 PM closing time, and the company cancelled the flight.

Source: ANNnewsCH