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Delta Air Lines flight DL5062 was supposed to fly from North Eleuthera Airport (ELH) in The Bahamas to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) on August 12th. Weather caused the flight to divert to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV). With no customs agents ready at the airport, passengers were forced to wait onboard for over four hours after landing (six hours total on the plane) without access to food, water, or a working bathroom.
The flight is normally a short hop to Atlanta, but weather forced the plane to Savannah. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was not expecting to have this flight, so there was no staffing. This meant that passengers could not leave the plane. Flight crew did not distribute snacks or beverages until the plane had been sitting for around three hours.
Passenger discomfort was compounded when the lavatory ended up overflowing and went out of service. One passenger told a local news station that her child used the bathroom in a bag in the galley.
The plane landed at 6:09 PM, but passengers did not deplane and until around 10:30 PM.
Delta issued a statement to local station, WJCL 22 News, it reads:
Flight 5062 from Eleuthera, Bahamas to Atlanta diverted to Savannah due to inclement weather. Limited accessibility of airport customs agents resulted in the flight crew not being authorized to allow customers to exit the aircraft for an extended period of time. Delta apologizes for the inconvenience to our customers, and we are reviewing the circumstances that led to the unfortunate cabin experience.”
Anthony’s Take: Weather is out of the airline’s control, but I’m not sure why the crew waited three hours to break out snacks and beverages. Being stuck on the plane for six hours total (with three of them without access to a lavatory) sounds unpleasant when you’re planning for a 90-minute flight.
(Image Credits: Delta Air Lines, Wikimedia Commons.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
1 comment
Happened to me, 6 hours on tarmac In Atlanta 4 years ago, no air , water or bathrooms!