Hundreds of United Airlines passengers were stranded for over 14 hours at an airport in Canada.
United Flight 179 departed Newark Liberty International Airport at 3:05PM on Saturday and was scheduled to land in Hong Kong on Sunday night.
The flight diverted to Goose Bay Airport in Newfoundland, Canada after a passenger had two seizures.
Extreme cold weather, 20 degrees below zero, supposedly caused a mechanical issue on the plane, leaving passengers stranded onboard for more than 14 hours.
Passengers complained that the onboard food supplies were running out. They were finally let off the plane temporarily the next morning.
A rescue plane was sent to pick them up and return them to New Jersey on Sunday.
YWN reminds readers of an incident last year involving an El Al flight from Newark which was diverted to Goose Bay and also spent 14+ hours on the frozen tarmac.
Four @united tech ops workers trying to fix the right wing emergency exit door of #UA179. A planeful of people is hoping they have better luck than the last set of mechanics and pilots who tried hours ago @United_179 pic.twitter.com/PlC41Rh7qp
— Steven Lau (@unoslau) January 20, 2019
Also not a great sign when the mechanic who was called to fix the problem then gets on his phone to call for more support
— Steven Lau (@unoslau) January 20, 2019
It’s freezing, not safe for children and elderly. Please help @united.
— SONJAY (@sonjaydutterson) January 20, 2019
My home for the last 12+ hours. pic.twitter.com/RFbyA2wCXp
— SONJAY (@sonjaydutterson) January 20, 2019
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3 Responses
Outrageous. And where were the Chabad Shalichim to Newfoundland with big bowls of hot cholent for these freezing passengers? Seriously though, I’m not sure any airline could have a “contingency plan” to pre-position mechanics and Canadian immigration officials at an air force base that handles only a few domestic Canadian commercial flights. In hindsight, they might have sent replacement equipment or specialized mechanics up there more quickly but probably would not have changed the outcome by more than an hour or two.
Today’s record sets new record for all time low This is factually a false statement. United airlines already reached their all time low, when this Dr was dragged off their aeroplane almost 2 years ago, just to suit United Airlines staffing convenience.
@the adjudicator
There is not much relevance bringing up
EL AL in this article save that YWN seems biased when it comes to EL AL
And now we are on the point it seems you have biased reporting when it comes to R Berland and Lev Tahor
The above comments have no reflection as to my veiws on the three subjects
But it’s expected from YWN to report in an unbiased manor