MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - Frustrated passengers on a delayed Delta Air Lines flight arrived at Miami International Airport from New York City after spending hours on the tarmac.
One passenger who shared video on social media from inside the plane said they were on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport for seven to eight hours.
He claimed the captain had no idea where the ground crew was.
“It was long. We’re tired. It was supposed to board at 3:15 and then it said 5 o’clock and then it went from C62, then it went to B18,” passenger Shawnna Palmer said, “from one bus to another, then we sat on the tarmac for about six, seven hours.”
People got so impatient being without food for an extended period of time that even a fight broke out and Port Authority officers had to be called in, the passenger told 7News.
“It was definitely crazy, lots of people got off,” said passenger Gabby Rosenbloom. “There were tears, yelling and a fight in the back of the plane. We were in a remote parking spot, kind of in the middle of nowhere for about seven hours. It was definitely stressful.”
“The A/C was off. They didn’t serve us water,” passenger Sumeet Kapoor added. “My dad almost died on the plane. It was so hot that we couldn’t breathe. There were kids on the flight. They never served us anything.”
Passenger Marques Palmer said, “People got a little irate, which is understandable. You got kids. You got people who have ailments and stuff like that. The Port Authority Police did come to address the situation and to help out as best they could and to keep everybody calm as much as possible.”
Delta Air Lines released a statement to 7News:
“Delta flight 2385 with service from JFK to Miami was delayed due to weather in both Miami and New York. Customers were offered both water and snack service while on the tarmac and were also offered the chance to take a bus back to the terminal given the plane was parked on a remote pad for quite some time. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
The plane finally arrived at MIA just after 2 a.m., Friday.
Passengers said contrary to Delta’s statement, they were not offered anything to eat.
“We were begging them to either give us something to drink or give us something to eat, but they didn’t give us anything,” said Kapoor.
Those on board the plane also said they were never given a concrete reason as to what caused the delays.
“One of the flight attendants explained to me that something had happened on the tarmac yesterday, but she couldn’t really give me any details, but it led to lack of staffing and also some emotional turmoil on behalf of the airport,” said Rosenbloom.
“Nobody was able to give a full answer. We don’t know what the situation [was] other than the weather and that was the biggest thing. The biggest thing was the weather in the first part, but then afterwards there was other issues,” said Palmer.
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