Photos: Chicago diversions at MSP on August 18, 2025

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

American and United Dreamliners, along with a Korean Air Cargo 777-200F all bound for Chicago, diverted into Minneapolis on August 18, 2025.

As many avgeeks can attest, some of the best days of plane spotting happen as a result of bad weather at a nearby hub. For those of us here at MSP, summer and winter storms impacting Chicago occasionally result in a handful of interesting aircraft diverting in, especially freighters coming from Alaska and Asia.

JetTip was built for situations like this - I was excited when I got an alert at 2:20 PM, and again around 3:40, that multiple O'Hare-bound flights were diverting to other airports. I knew it was time to keep an eye on my phone in case something interesting ended up coming into MSP.

The first alert for an MSP-bound flight came at 4:54 PM, when WestJet 1588 (YYC-ORD), after doing a few laps holding in Northeast Missouri, was cleared by ATC to head our way, arriving at 5:45. We ended up catching seven diversions, many of which were from type+airline combinations we don't often get to see here:

• Alaska: N477AS, ASA598 (SFO-ORD)‡
• American: N804AN, B788, AAL151 (CDG-ORD)‡
• American: N810AN, B788, AAL181 (NAP-ORD)†
• American: N975UY, AAL3303 (PDX-ORD)†
• Korean Air Cargo: HL8077, B77L, KAL231 (ANC-ORD)‡
• United: N27901, B788, UAL928 (LHR-ORD)‡
• WestJet: C-GWSP, B737, WJA1588 (YYC-ORD)‡

† Departed MSP August 18
‡ Departed MSP the next day, August 19

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

The light and clouds were almost too cooperative for KAL231!

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

Touching down on MSP's 35, a somewhat unusual runway assignment - 12R/30L is closed for the next month for maintenance work. It looks like the vehicle in the lower right may have pulled over to enjoy the show!

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

A common sight at United hubs, this Dreamliner in the older livery is an exotic visitor here in the Twin Cities.

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

I'm sure the crew and passengers on this SFO-ORD flight weren't thinking about how great the light was, but they sure looked good!

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

Of the seven diversions at MSP, only two managed to get out of town without spending the night. Here's AAL181, originally from NAP, departing MSP for ORD. Minnesota ANG C-130s from the 133AW rest on the ramp in the background.

I often joke with other spotters here that, "when it rains, it pours," and that day was no exception. We also ended up getting our first-ever visit from AeroLogic, a German cargo airline, whose HKG-CVG flight diverted in for fuel around 11pm.

Nick Benson - JetTip.net

AeroLogic's D-AALG, on BOX250 (HKG-CVG), diverting into MSP.

There you have it - what a wild day! If you'd like to get a heads up when interesting aircraft are coming and going from your airport, or when aircraft are starting to divert away from a nearby hub, please consider subscribing to JetTip's smart flight alert service.

Nick Benson

Nick lives in Burnsville, Minnesota with his wife and three children. He grooves on railroad and aviation photography, politics, geography, weather, and LEGO. He started JetTip's smart flight alert service in 2017, and is now a full-time avgeek. He can frequently be found atop his Subaru at MSP's Aircraft Viewing Area.