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Passengers were 'just losing their minds' after 6 hours stuck on tarmac

By Rob Quinn Published August 02, 2017

Newser

Air Transat keeps passengers on a tarmac for six hours after an eight hour flight. (iStock)

Passengers stuck on a plane for more than six hours after an eight-hour flight ended up calling 911 for the assistance they said the airline wasn't giving them.

The Air Transat flight from Brussels to Montreal was diverted to Ottawa International Airport on Monday because of stormy weather at its destination, the Ottawa Citizen reports.

Passengers say they weren't allowed to get off the plane during the delay, even after food and water ran out and the air-conditioning stopped working. "The plane actually lost power and went zero AC, and then now we've got the doors open and one kid is puking, and people are just losing their minds," passenger Laura Mah told the CBC during the delay.

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"This is not okay or humane," she tweeted. After at least one passenger called 911, paramedics arrived, handed out water, and treated a passenger who had taken ill.
By the time the plane finally got to Montreal, people had been on board for 15 hours. The Ottawa airport authority blames the airline, saying it was the one that made the decision to keep the passengers on the plane.
Air Transat swung back, saying airport staff failed to provide the loading bridges and stairs necessary to either deplane passengers or "replenish the aircraft’s empty drinking water reservoir." A Canadian government spokeswoman tells the CBC that a new airline passengers' bill of rights is currently being crafted would make airlines compensate passengers who are stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours.
(This airline wouldn't let a disabled man board. He found a way.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: "Passengers Stuck on Tarmac for 6 Hours Call 911."

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Wednesday, August 2, 2017