Weird "time out" for crew member on UA 48 11NOV18
This was a new experience for me. On UA 48 EWR-BOM, we were delayed about 20 minutes leaving the gate due to the fact that 65(!) passengers had requested wheelchairs. Once away from the gate, we taxied for a while. Then the captain announced that there was a problem with one of the flight crew. One of the 1st officers was going to become "illegal" due to hour limitation. So, we had to return to the gate and get a new 1st officer. Total delay was about 2 hours. Why would this happen for a 15 hour flight? Presumably, none of the crew had just completed another trip immediately prior to this flight. Would this be due to some monthly limit where the extra 20 minutes we spent loading would make this pilot now illegal?