Hundreds of men, women and children have been abandoned at remote barracks in Canada for 20 hours after their United Airlines flight from Chicago to London had to make an emergency landing.
The passengers were apparently forced to sleep in uncomfortable beds with only two blankets and no heating at Goose Bay barracks on Friday night after landing due to a ‘fault’ with the aircraft.
They have reportedly been given only two meals, have had ‘no word at all’ from United Airlines – and two elderly passengers were even ‘dumped’ at the wrong part of the barracks and left overnight.
But while the passengers remain hungry, cold and confused, the crew spent the night at a hotel in Newfoundland and Labrador, passenger Simon Millward told DailyMail.com from the barracks.
‘We have been completely abandoned by United staff,’ Mr Millward said on Saturday evening. ‘We were put in barracks with no heating, in the freezing north, and given two thin sheets to sleep with.
‘We all slept in our clothes. Not a single person from United has seen us or been in touch.
‘There were two old people who had difficulty walking who were dumped at a different part of the barracks, with no-one to contact them. There were a lot of children and babies on the flight.
‘We’ve literally been dumped in the middle of nowhere. But all the crew stayed at a hotel in town. None of them have come to see us. We have been completely abandoned and are all confused.’
On Twitter, a stranded passenger tweeted United: ‘knock knock! Who’s there? Not the crew because THEY’RE IN A HOTEL while their customers are stranded in a barracks in #GooseBay.’
A United Airlines spokesman has since replied to disgruntled Bill Turner, saying: ‘The crew must rest in order to continue the flight. You can rest on board the aircraft knowing that they are in charge.’
Flight 958 set off from Chicago O’Hare International Airport shortly before 5.30pm (a delay on its 3.50pm departure time) on Friday. It was due to arrive at Heathrow Airport at 5.45am on Saturday.
But three hours into the flight, the Boeing 767 – which is almost 22 years old – was forced to make an emergency landing due to what the airline has told DailyMail.com was a ‘maintenance issue’.
The aircraft touched down at Goose Bay at 23.33pm local time. Passengers were then taken to the barracks by bus, where they were given only two blankets each in near-freezing temperatures.
Mr Millward said the flight crew told passengers the plane’s rudder had ‘stopped working’, but then refused to answer any more questions. ‘They would reply to our questions with questions,’ he said.
At 7pm local time, he said that the ‘300 or so’ plane passengers – mostly made up of Americans and Brits – had not been given food since midday. And many have missed out on important plans.
One woman was supposed to be attending her brother’s wedding in Malta, while two Americans who were traveling abroad for their first ever time have been traumatized by their experience, he said.
Mr Millward himself was supposed to be in Milan, Italy, on Sunday for work.
The British citizen said that the ‘hungry’ passengers have grouped together and supported each other at the Air Force barracks.
They have now been put on a replacement plane that was delayed in arriving at the air base due to mechanical problems.
They remained grounded at 7pm, but were due to be flown to Newark on Saturday night.
They will then be flown to London and given refunds, United told DailyMail.com.
It is thought that the passengers’ luggage has remained on the aircraft through their ‘nightmare’.
Mr Millward said that while United has not made contact with any of the stranded passengers, staff at the Air Force base have been ‘wonderful’. ‘They gave us breakfast at around 8am – defrosted bacon and cereal – and then a warm lunch at 12pm,’ he said. ‘They have been wonderful to us.’
Throughout Saturday, many passengers, and friends and spouses of fliers, were angrily tweeting United for answers about Flight 958, claiming that they had been told nothing about their situation.
One man wrote: ‘My wife is stuck in an army barracks in goose bay (UA958). What is going on. No one knows! Terrible customer service.’ Meanwhile, a woman tweeted: ‘I understand UA958 6/12 plane is faulty. What I don’t understand is why u can’t bring another plane in to get ppl home.’
The airport at Goose Bay, situated at 6 Vulcan Road, regularly sees flights diverted there because it is one of the last airports on the North American mainland before aircraft start crossing to Europe.
A United Airlines spokesman told DailyMail.com on Saturday evening: ‘The flight landed safely after diverting to Goose Bay, Canada, last night due to a maintenance issue.
‘Customers were accommodated overnight and provided meals. We are flying the customers to Newark where they will be accommodated tonight on another aircraft to London. We apologize to our customers for this disruption to their travel plans and will be refunding their tickets to London.’