(CNN) -- If you were to leave Miami on a flight heading west, 20 hours later you could be in Asia.
But the frustrated passengers of American Airlines Flight 295 were just trying to get to Los Angeles.
The 186 travelers endured a 20-hour trip after departing Miami International Airport on Wednesday morning. Instead of getting to LAX before noon, they arrived well after midnight.
One passenger told CNN affiliate KTLA it was a "nightmare that you can't believe."
American Airlines told CNN the Airbus A321 had a mechanical problem and had to land in Lubbock, Texas.
"There was a noise and then we were told later that one of the engines went out and they had to land in Texas," Evelyn Albert told KTLA.
After assessing the issue, American called for another plane, but after loading the perturbed passengers, the crew had to fly to Dallas, American's home base, to gas up.
Then the airliner took off for Los Angeles, landing at 2:15 a.m. on Christmas Eve.
"We appreciate that we got here ... to our destination, but we're 15 hours late," Johnathan Himebauch said to KTLA.
American Airlines said Thursday it was still trying to figure out the mechanical issue with the original plane.
CNN's Dave Alsup and Braden Walker contributed to this report.
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