Flight Passengers Stuck On Tarmac For 12 Hours

Travellers are stranded in Abu Dhabi for 12 hours as takeoff is delayed, but are not allowed to leave the aircraft.

By Sky News US Team

Passengers of an Etihad flight have complained after they were stranded on tarmac in the Middle East for 12 hours.

Takeoff of Etihad Airways Flight 183 from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco was delayed due to foggy conditions.
Passengers were not allowed to leave the flight, and the delay meant that they were stuck on the plane for 28 hours instead of 16.
"They kept telling us that we were going to leave, you know 15 minutes from now, 20 minutes from now, 30 minutes for now, for 12 hours," passenger Thomas Piani said after finally landing in San Francisco at the weekend.
Passengers said the flight crew had told them the Abu Dhabi airport was too crowded with other stranded flights to allow them to get off the plane.
Meanwhile, tempers aboard the plane were growing short.

Eithad Airways has apologised for the delay. File pic

"Everybody was fighting with each other, and the flight attendants were fighting with us, and we were fighting with the flight attendants,” passenger Venkatesh Pahwa said.
Ravali Reddy took to Twitter to chronicle the developing situation.
"Hey @EtihadAirways, I've been sitting on EY 183 in Abu Dhabi for 10 hours now. THIS IS NOT OK. There are kids and seniors on this flight,” she tweeted at one point.
At another she complained about what she said was "horrible service".
Ms Reddy said after the flight that the crew had eventually passed out sandwiches and water after some people made a fuss over the lack of food.
Etihad, a national airline of the United Arab Emirates, apologised for the inconvenience to travellers, but noted that the problem was largely beyond its control and it had affected other airlines as well.
The airline told the AP news agency that "unprecedented fog" had delayed flights, caused airport congestion and Flight 183 was one of the planes affected the most.
"The passengers remained on the aircraft as all efforts were being made to secure a new departure time," said a statement.
"The delay was then compounded by the requirement to replace the aircraft's ultra-long haul operating crew who had exceeded their flight time limitations," the airline said.