Virgin Atlantic passengers stranded on Hartford runway for almost 5 hr.

By Christine Boynton | June 24, 2010

Virgin Atlantic Airways Flight VS001's 300 passengers sat stranded on the tarmac for almost 5 hr. Tuesday night at Bradley International in Hartford, Conn., to which the London-Newark flight was diverted owing to bad weather. The aircraft landed at BDL at 8:20 p.m. and did not deplane until around 1 a.m. Passengers allegedly were without food, water or air conditioning for much of the time, according to multiple media reports. The Associated Press reported that at least three people were taken away by ambulance. Passengers were bused to Newark yesterday morning.

"Our aviation enforcement office will be looking into the incident to determine whether any violations occurred," US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. The 3-hr. tarmac-stranding limit that went into effect in April doesn't apply to non-US carriers or international flights by US carriers, though the US Dept. of Transportation is proposing extending the rule to all flights (ATW Daily News, June 3). A Virgin spokesperson told AP that the delay should be attributed to the airport not being "used to dealing with international flights."

Discuss this news 10

24 Jun01:00

This is absolutely

By Steven

This is absolutely ridiculous. Come on...... get to the gate and let people off the plane. They could have sat in the waiting area. Not running the air condition and sitting in the dark is so not right. Did the pilot not have the authority to pull the plane to the gate? People could have died on the plane or had major anxiety attacks etc. Something must be done. I can just imagine the law suits especially those people who got sick and had to be taken by ambulance. I say Boycott Virgin Atlantic and make a statement......... people something has to be done.

24 Jun04:03

This is certainly not the

By Hans Uhl

This is certainly not the fault of Virgin Atlantic or the captain of this plane. You may blame regulation, but I think the same may happen anywhere in the world when an airplane is diverted to a place without immigration facilities. Authorities don't allow people to deplane when there are no immigration and custom facilities, particularly in the US.

24 Jun06:04

Steven Please explain to me

By PB

Steven

Please explain to me how to get the authority to waive customs and immigration inspection requirements. In the post 9-11 era of knee jerk reactions, imagine the outcry if a foreign aircraft simply landed and 300 passengers were turned loose. You comments are based on emotion and directed to a perfect world. The aircraft diverted and BDL was not ready for them. If BDL is going to be used as an alternate, maybe they should get their act together. And by the way, are any of the gates at BDL suitable for an A-340 type aircraft? Its those little things that make reality a challenge some times.

24 Jun07:59

Virgin Atlantic is a joke

By Anonymous

Virgin Atlantic is a joke airline. You need to be nuts to fly it. They try to be so cute but when it comes right to it, why would they leave passengers stranded in a hot house for nearly 5 hours. They were obviously too cheap to turn on the air. I have 100,000 Virgin Atlantic miles that are a complete waste. They don't even allow you to use miles for decent upgrades expect for a brief period during the winter. They are just money grubbers. Stick to American airlines or BA. This Branson guys is just an amateur that thinks he can run an airline, but obviously has fostered a culture where people don’t really matter.

24 Jun11:26

If you want to learn more

By Anonymous

If you want to learn more about the new rules proposed by the Department of Transportation and comment upon whether the DOT should extend these rules to international flights, visit www.regulation room.org. This it the official site for the public to comment on the new rules for the DOT's consideration.

24 Jun17:29

If Newark and JFK were

By Jerry

If Newark and JFK were unavailable, there were plenty of major international airports that VS could have chosen, e.g., Boston and Montreal for sure and probably Philadelphia, BWI and IAD. Clearly, they did the easiest thing without considering the consequences.

06 Jul22:33

We were on that flight

By Anonymous

We were on that flight (sauna) with an infant and a 3 year old. VA had no effective contingency plan in place. They have offered us 1 (one) roundtrip ticket as compensation. I'm disgusted. FYI, Bradley does have immigration facilities.

16 Jul15:58

Do you honestly believe that

By Frank

Do you honestly believe that the pilot or crew would have been happy to sit there and let this happen if they had any control over the situation. More likely it is the beauraucratic red time that engulfs anyone landing in thew US that stymied their de-planing, however no one factor is ever to blame for an event like this - Steve get real please.

28 Oct14:40

They may have the facilities,

By Jaci

They may have the facilities, but since this was the first international flight they had in about 2 years, they don't exactly have custom agents at their beck and call at BDL.

Hey, flying ANY commercial airline has its risks. Nothing is perfect, so just be thankful that you didn't crash and move on. Life is too short to be that ungrateful that you landed safely and eventually ended up at your destination, and that they offered you SOMETHING for your troubles. Some airlines don't offer ya SQUAT when there's a problem!

28 Oct14:41

They may have the facilities,

By Jaci

They may have the facilities, but since this was the first international flight they had in about 2 years, they don't exactly have custom agents at their beck and call at BDL.