Passengers call 911 after being stuck in plane for hours
Passengers were stuck in a plane in stifling heat for hours on a Canada tarmac. Things got so bad that passengers started calling 911 for help.
The events started unfolding when a flight from Belgium to Montreal was diverted to Ottawa due to bad weather.
After landing, the plane, operated by the airline Air Transat, simply sat on the tarmac. After four hours, the plane lost power and went dark.
That's when anxious passengers called 911 in desperation, triggering what the airport called "a full emergency response."
“The ground crew just arrived with the fuel. So as soon as we have more fuel we'll be ready to give you more power and electricity. Thank you,” the captain told the upset passengers.
The lights eventually came back on, but not the air conditioning.
The plane eventually took off for Montreal — after nearly six hours on the tarmac.
Along with the passengers' gripes, Ottawa airport officials are slamming the airline, saying they tried several times to get food and water to the passengers.
"The aircrew was non-communicative and did not take us up on our offers," the airport says.
By the time the plane landed in Montreal, the passengers had been inside the aircraft for a total of 15 hours.
In a statement the airline said: "Following yesterday’s violent late-afternoon thunderstorms in Montreal, some of our flights from Europe and the South had to be diverted to other airports. Unfortunately, this unusual situation beyond our control caused delays of several hours for our passengers."