Yikes! This is my worst nightmare. On Monday, there were a couple flights diverted to the Ottawa airport due to stormy weather. Apparently the passengers we forced to stay on the planes sitting on the tarmac for 6 hours! The conditions became so bad when the plane lost power (including air conditioning) that passengers called 911! What a nightmare!

Passengers Stuck On Planes For Hours Call 911

Passengers on two Air Transat flights were stuck on planes at the Ottawa airport for hours on Monday after being diverted due to stormy weather, and at least two of them called 911.

Air Transat Flight 157 from Brussels was scheduled to arrive in Montreal at 3:15 p.m. ET Monday, but was diverted to Ottawa after circling east of Montreal due to thunderstorms.

The flight landed at the Ottawa airport just after 5 p.m. ET, after more than eight hours of flying time.

It then sat on the tarmac for six hours and passengers weren’t allowed to get off. Laura Mah, who was on board, spoke to CBC News as they waited.

Courtesy Twitter

Air Transat says situation was beyond its control

In an emailed statement written in French, Air Transat said the unusual amount of traffic at the Ottawa airport meant that airport staff weren’t able to provide bridges or stairways to allow passengers to disembark.

You can read what this passenger said in full on CBCNews.

Bottom Line

This is terrible. What would you do if you were in this situation? Seems to me that these passengers were treated very poorly by the airline. They should have been allowed to deplane. I can’t imagine being on a plane that long on the tarmac without power. What do you think?

HT: CBCNews

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