More than 200 exhausted passengers were left stranded and frustrated in St. John’s on Wednesday after a flight to Germany made an emergency stop.
A representative from the St. John’s international airport confirmed that a Lufthansa flight arrived slightly after 2 a.m.
Passenger Bob Burgess of Halifax said the unplanned landing was related to a passenger’s death.
Lufthansa spokesman Tal Muscal confirmed that the aircraft landed in St. John’s for a medical emergency and said a passenger was taken to the hospital, but could not confirm whether a death occurred.
WATCH: Snow way! Newfoundland gets doused with the white stuff in late June
Burgess said the early landing meant that passengers were unable to leave the plane until after 6 a.m., and they soon discovered that hotels were booked for a convention.
Lufthansa does not operate out of the St. John’s airport, so there was no additional staff on the ground to facilitate accommodations – and crew onboard had to break for a legally mandated “rest period” before preparing the aircraft for departure Wednesday evening.
School buses were arranged for passengers to tour the city in the meantime, but Burgess said there was some frustration among the tired travellers left on their own to find food and accommodation.
Comments