‘Exhausting’: W MI woman slept in barracks during grounded Delta flight
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A West Michigan woman who was on Delta Flight 135 that was diverted to Canada is sharing her experience.
Rebecca Casavant of Cedar Springs was on her way home after traveling to Munich, Germany. She and her husband had a layover in Amsterdam.
While on their way home, their plane was forced to land due to a mechanical issue. An unplanned landing was made in Goose Bay, Newfoundland, the Associated Press reports.
“It was an exhausting, frustrating experience,” explained Casavant.
A Delta spokesperson said the airline worked with officials in Goose Bay to arrange for food, water, and accommodations for passengers from Sunday into Monday. However, Casavant said that wasn’t the case, and that for 24 hours passengers were left without a meal or answers.
Passengers lodge in military barracks after Amsterdam to Detroit flight is forced to land in Canada
“They were just not communicating with us on what was happening,” she said. “They could do so much better with communication. I think they could’ve done better in keeping us fed with more adequate food, other than snacks and small meals, and pizza. We were not informed on why it was taking so long for a second plane to come, when initially they did say, ‘Oh, it will be three, maybe four hours.'”
Casavant said hours continued to pass, and they remained landed and onboard the plane that was having mechanical issues with the de-icer for one of the engines. She said it wasn’t until around midnight Monday morning that the second plane to take them to Detroit arrived. But their journey was far from over.
Casavant said even more hours passed and then it was announced they had to get off the new plane and stay in military barracks for the night.
“We didn’t really understand,” she said. “They weren’t explaining why this had happened. It was kind of unbelievable, but there was also a little bit of relief because we had been on that plane for so long, sitting in these small plane seats, that, OK, at least we’ll get off this plane for a little while.”
After spending the night in the barracks, buses took the passengers to the new plane. It wasn’t until Monday evening around 5 p.m. that they were on their way back to Detroit.
“Everybody, there was some cheering that happened on the plane,” she said. “I think people were just relieved that this part of their journey was over. To be on the ground and know that OK, time to move on and put this behind us and move forward.”
Delta also refunded passengers for their tickets.
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