At the moment when 250 passengers and 15 crew aboard United Airlines flight
179 from New York should have been sound asleep in Hong Kong, they were
beginning their 15th hour on board the plane stuck on the ground at a military
airfield in the northern region of Labrador in sub-Arctic Canada.
 
The Boeing 777 had taken off on schedule on Saturday afternoon from Newark for
the 8,052-mile flight across the Arctic to Hong Kong.
 
About three-and-a-half hours into the flight, as the jet was making landfall
above the coast of southwest Greenland, a passenger became ill.
 
Initially the crew decided to return to Newark. But one of the passengers,
Chris Liew, told The Independent:
 
* At some point, the pilots diverted to Goose Bay.
* We landed at about 9.30pm local time [8pm New York time].
* The sick passenger was taken off and the plane refuelled to replenish
  the fuel dumped before landing.
* A couple of hours later we were informed there was a problem with a door
  and a mechanic was called,” said Mr Liew.
* Evidently it couldn't be fixed and the pilots began working with their
  operations centre for a new plan, essentially involving a replacement
  aircraft that either took us back to Newark or on to Hong Kong or some
  intermediate airport closer to Hong Kong.
 
The delay became so extended that one passenger set up the diversion's own
Twitter account, "Save United 179".
 
Goose Bay airport, just outside the settlement of Happy Valley, is a Canadian
Armed Forces base. A local resident, Philip Earle, told The Independent: "Your
Royal Air Force built a lot of the infrastructure here such as hangars and
barracks which still exist."
 
The airfield is on flight routes between Europe and the west coast of the US,
and occasionally receives diversions. But as border officials do not work at
night, passengers could not be processed officially into Canada.
 
"All that time, one aircraft door was open and it was minus 28F (-33C)
outside" said Mr Liew.
 
"The aircraft was adequately warm for those of us sitting away from the open
door. Some unfortunate flight attendant was posted at the door for safety and
security, I suppose."
 
No food or refreshments were offered until the 12-hour mark.
 
"UA, this is the all time worst customer experience I have ever had," tweeted
one passenger, Rose Kazan. "Shame on you. Stranded for 12 hours."
 
"We need you guys to act on this colossal disaster and help get this plane
moving."
 
United Airlines told The Independent about what happened after the diversion:
"Prior to departure, the aircraft experienced a mechanical issue. The airport
did not have customs officers overnight so we were not able to let customers
depart the aircraft."
 
"An alternate aircraft is being flown in to transport customers back to
Newark. We apologise to our customers and our crew is doing everything
possible to assist them during the delay."
 
The replacement aircraft landed at around 12.30pm local time (11am New York
time) and carried a fresh crew.
 
But as attempts to fix the broken door continued, Chris Liew confirmed: "We're
at 15 hours on the ground and counting."
 
The eventual delay was 16 hours, with the return to New York 26 hours after
the original flight had left.
 
In November 2018, a planeload of Air France passengers travelling from Paris
to Shanghai spent three days in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, after a
smoke detector was activated.

--- D'Bridge 3.99 SR41
 * Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)