It was three months from retiring from being in the service for over 22 years. Due to circumstances I was unable to fly back in time.

我父亲去世时，我正在德国服役，当时离我服满22年兵役退伍还有三个月，由于当时的一些情况，我没能及时飞回来，没能向他告别，也没能出现在他的葬礼上。

youdao

It was just a case of being in the right place at the right time, because just before I was supposed to fly back to America, a company offered me work and got me a visa, so I decided to go for it.

恰逢这时，就在我准备坐飞机回美国之前，一间公司向我发出工作邀请，还给我办了签证，所以我决定接下这份工作。

youdao

"There are travelers who are stranded in Asia who cannot fly back home. At the same time, goods and services cannot be delivered."

VOA: standard.2010.04.19

Mr Osborne, who has been in New York trying to reassure investment banks that London will remain a congenial environment for them, was unable to fly back to London in time.

WSJ: Bankers Are Still There for Bashing

The 31-year-old is due to fly back out to rejoin the tour on 10 March in time for the five-match one-day series.

BBC: Flintoff to return home from tour

Instrumented planes, guided by GPS, fly back and forth across the ice in campaigns that can last weeks at a time.

BBC: Antarctic ice volume measured