The 47 passengers aboard Continental Express Flight 2816 flying from Houston to Minneapolis expected their flight to last about two-and-one-half hours. But severe weather and an equally severe enforcement of federal regulations caused their flight to take about 12 hours, including a six-hour stretch trapped in the plane as it sat 50 yards from the terminal. Flight 2816 left Houston at 9:23 p.m. on August 7. It was scheduled to arrive in Minneapolis by midnight, but bad weather forced it to land in Rochester. At first, it seemed as if the flight would resume when the storm let up, but by 2:00 a.m. the storm had instead picked up, and passengers were still in the plane.
By this time the situation was getting very uncomfortable. The one toilet had overflowed, babies were crying, dirty diapers were accumulating, and no food or drink had been provided since the snacks that had been dispensed early in the flight. Sleep was virtually impossible aboard the relatively small 50-passenger plane. “It was almost a surreal quality that kind of developed during the night,†passenger Link Christin said. “It felt like you were trapped in a cave underground.â€
Finally, at 6:00 a.m., the passengers were allowed to enter the terminal, where the restrooms and vending machines that could have made the long wait more bearable were readily available. What changed at 6:00 a.m.? Security screeners were back on the job and could now screen the passengers before re-boarding.
And some people want to give these freaks control over our health care?
“Yes, Mr. Smith, I understand you’re having an acute myocardial infarction. But I’m on my lunch break, so could you keep it down?”
Government: We don’t care, so you have to.
They tout the French healthcare system as being so great. I must be one of the few who remember a few years back when a heatwave hit France. Old folks were dying of heat exhaustion and other causes, and the doctors were all on their summer vacations.
Oh, you’re not the only one, DT. And I bring it up each and every time someone hauls the Frenchie’s BS system up.
Wasn’t the government’s fault.
The airline could have let the passengers off … you don’t have to screen to disembark.
The airline didn’t want to do that because if they lost control of the passengers, they could just leave, make other trip arrangements, and demand ticket refunds.
Sorry Kristopher, the terminal was actually closed. Federal regs state that with no federal screeners at their “posts”, terminals must close to all non-airport employees (to make sure the passengers didn’t go out and then back into the terminal).