Delta Flight Diverted to Remote Canadian Airport

More than 200 passengers were stuck in remote Canada for over 21 hours after a Delta flight traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, experienced a mechanical issue and needed to make an emergency landing.

Delta flight 135 was diverted to Goose Bay Airport, a remote facility in Newfoundland, Canada, on Sunday, with 270 people on board. Passenger Aditi Shankar told CBS News that airplane staff said the issue was related to deicing one of the plane's engines.

"They had to make a landing urgently," Shankar said.

The airport is a Canadian Forces Base located in a small town, but has a long runway that made landing possible, according to CBS News senior travel adviser Peter Greenberg.

"The key is to safety, get it on the ground first, figure out how you get everybody off later," Greenberg said.

Passengers were stuck on board the plane for hours as temperatures plummeted. Shankar said that she and other passengers had not had a "real meal" in more than 15 hours, and said many passengers were not prepared for the cold temperatures and did not have jackets.

A rescue flight was dispatched by Delta to bring stranded passengers home, but unfortunately, the crew exceeded their allotted flying time and were unable to operate the flight. Consequently, the passengers were left stranded overnight. One of the passengers shared on social media that they had already boarded the new plane before being informed that it was unable to take off. Delta explained to CBS News that the adverse weather conditions and runway situation at the airport had impacted the crew's duty times, leading to the suspension of operations.

Due to a lack of available hotels in the town of Goose Bay, where the emergency landing took place, the passengers had to spend the night in military barracks. Goose Bay, with its population of approximately 8,000 residents, does not have the capacity to accommodate the large number of stranded passengers.

On the following day, a second rescue flight was dispatched to Goose Bay, managing to depart just before a major winter storm hit the area. Finally, after more than 24 hours since the emergency landing, the passengers arrived in Detroit.

Delta expressed their apologies for the inconvenience caused to their customers.