Several hundred Delta Air Lines passengers were left stranded in a remote Canadian town for nearly 24 hours after their plane was diverted due to a mechanical issue.
On Sunday 10 December, Delta flight 135 was carrying 270 passengers from Amsterdam to Detroit when it made an emergency landing at Goose Bay Airport in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The airport is located in the remote town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, with a population of around 8,000 people. Goose Bay Airport is operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force.
According to CBS News, passengers were told there was an issue de-icing one of the engines and the pilot decided to divert the plane. However, the plane was unable to take off again due to freezing conditions in Goose Bay and the flight crew reaching its maximum time limit.
Delta sent for a rescue plane, but the plane never arrived due to bad weather conditions and the flight crew also timing out. The airline called for a second plane to be sent to Goose Bay but it took more than 24 hours to arrive, forcing passengers to sleep in military barracks overnight.
In a statement to The Independent, Delta noted that officials arranged for passengers to be given food, water and accommodations for Sunday into Monday. The airline said passengers reached their final destination at Detroit Metro Airport on Monday morning, and would compensate customers for their delayed travel.
“Delta flight 135 operating from Amsterdam to Detroit on 10 December experienced a mechanical issue and diverted to Goose Bay, Newfoundland Sunday afternoon out of an abundance of caution,” the company said. “Crew duty times were impacted due to weather and runway conditions at the Goose Bay airport causing the airport to suspend operations. Delta sent additional aircraft to Goose Bay to bring customers to their final destination Monday. We apologise to customers for this inconvenience.”
A viral TikTok video posted by user @holly_dubbs showed flight passengers sitting on the aircraft for hoursIn the clip, a doctor on the plane is seen assisting a fellow passenger with a medical emergency. “Been stuck on a delta flight for almost 20 hours. Just siting in a plane for 10 hours in canada. No one can give us answers,” she captioned the video.
A follow-up video showed the passengers waiting to board a flight from Canada to Detroit after being delayed for more than 24 hours. “Update on our flight, we are still in Canada unfortunately,” Holly said. “We are going on a new flight, just trying to get everyone through TSA [Transportation Security Administration] now. Let’s hope and pray we actually make it home this time.”
Meanwhile, one person told Fox 2 Detroit that passengers didn’t know if they were going to make it to their final destination on time. “They put us in some military barracks,” said Tony Santoro. “It honestly felt like a hotel. It wasn’t too bad. We had soap, water, everything.”
With the holidays fast approaching and winter weather conditions in full swing, it’s likely that Delta won’t be the only airline experiencing delays this month. AAA released its December 2023 travel forecast on Monday, predicting that 115.2 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home between 23 December and New Year’s Day.
Air travel in the US is predicted to reach record numbers surpassing 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic cancelled many holiday plans for the next two years. Airlines are expected to see 39 million people boarding US flights between 20 December and 2 January.
