A New Jersey flight to Hong Kong made an unexpected stop in Canada on Saturday night — and that unexpected stop lasted several hours longer than planned.
United Airlines flight 179 from Newark, N.J., departed just after 3 p.m.
At 10 p.m. local time, the plane stopped on the tarmac of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Goose Bay Airport due to a medical emergency.
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After the passenger was taken by medical staff, the plane was supposed to continue its journey, but one of the aircraft’s doors wasn’t closing.
United Airlines spokeswoman Natalie Noonan said the door likely froze due to the bitterly cold weather.
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Noonan said the Boeing 777’s 250 passengers weren’t able to get off the plane because there were no border officials working overnight.
The passengers stayed on the plane for a gruelling nearly 18 hours.
Sonjay Dutt, a professional wrestler who was travelling to an event in China, chronicled the incident on Twitter.
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Dutt explained that the open door — and below -30 C weather — made the wait even more uncomfortable. The plane was also low on food and other supplies.
Several other plane passengers tweeted similar frustrations, some criticizing United for a lack of communication during the ordeal.
A Twitter account called “SAVE UNITED 179” was started early Sunday morning, posting updates and retweeting stranded passengers.
After 10 hours stuck on the plane, Dutt explained that officials brought passengers coffee and doughnuts from Tim Hortons. Passengers were allowed off the plane in small groups to stretch their legs in the customs area.
At the 14-hour mark, another plane arrived, which took the passengers back to Newark after failed repair attempts.
Dutt tweeted hours later that the plane had landed back in New Jersey at 6 p.m. local time. He would not make it to the event for which he was flying to Hong Kong.
Dutt said he’s a frequent flyer with the airline and will be looking for answers once he gets back.
“This is unacceptable at all levels,” he said.
In response, Noonan said the company did “everything they could” to make sure the passengers were as comfortable as possible.
United will be providing the passengers compensation, including refunds and vouchers.
—With files from the Canadian Press
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