Air Transat plane stuck on Ottawa Airport tarmac strands passengers for nearly six hours
Posted Aug 1, 2017 03:56:50 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Passengers aboard an Air Transat flight bound for Montreal from Belgium sat on the tarmac of the Ottawa Airport for nearly six hours on Monday night.
It was one of several flights bound for Toronto and Montreal Monday afternoon that was diverted to Ottawa due to bad weather that was surrounding both areas.
While on the tarmac, Flight 157 lost power and air conditioning, which led to passengers complaining and even calling authorities.
Only after that were passengers given water bottles from paramedics and airport staff.
“The responsibility for determining whether a diverted aircraft sits and waits out a storm … or whether it deplanes … rests solely with the airline,” says Krista Kealey, with the Ottawa International Airport Authority, when asked about how the airport could’ve helped.
“We can’t storm their aircraft. They have to request for the doors to be opened. They have to request if they want to deplane”.
On the Carole Anne Meehan show, Kealey said that stairs were available for Flight 157 to use, but they never asked for them.
Responding to complaints on Twitter, Air Transat told passengers the Airport didn’t have them available due to the overload of planes that were on the the tarmac, due to the poor weather conditions in the surrounding areas.
Both of the Air Transat flights departed the Ottawa Airport late Monday evening, arriving at their original destinations several hours behind schedule.
