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A Delta Air Lines flight headed from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, was diverted due to a mechanical issue that occurred on Sunday afternoon, December 10, the airline stated on Monday afternoon. Several hundred passengers on one of the airlines were left stranded in a remote Canadian town for almost twenty-four hours.
An airline representative confirmed to PEOPLE that flight 135 of the airline, which was an Airbus 330, was diverted to Goose Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador due to “an abundance of caution.”
According to Independent, the company stated:
“Delta flight 135 operating from Amsterdam to Detroit on 10 December experienced a mechanical issue and diverted to Goose Bay, Newfoundland Sunday afternoon out of an abundance of caution."
Happy Valley-Goose Bay, the town where they landed, is roughly 540 miles north of the nearest U.S. border in Maine and 1,300 miles northeast of Detroit, the plane's initial destination. It was founded in 1941 as a base for air and military ferries run by the US and Canada.
The United States Air Force leases a subsidiary base through the Goose Bay Agreement (1944), which is also used as a transatlantic refueling stop for commercial planes from Canada.
Due to the presence of CFB Goose Bay, the largest military air base in the Northeast and home to the Royal Canadian Air Force, it has the largest population center in the region despite having just 8,000 residents.
The pilot was forced to divert Delta Flight 135 as it couldn’t land in Detroit due to mechanical issues
Due to a mechanical problem, a Delta Air Lines flight was forced to make an unforeseen landing in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, on Sunday at 3:15 p.m. It left 270 passengers stranded at a remote military post for the night.
According to CBS News, the pilot chose to divert the aircraft after informing the passengers that there was a problem with de-icing one of the engines.
Furthermore, according to the airlines, the weather and runway conditions that forced the airport to halt operations also contributed to the situation. Due to the frigid conditions in Goose Bay and the plane's crew exceeding their maximum time limit, the aircraft was unable to take off again.
According to reports from the Independent, in order to notify the passengers of this, the company went on to say:
“Crew duty times were impacted due to weather and runway conditions at the Goose Bay airport causing the airport to suspend operations. Delta sent additional aircraft to Goose Bay to bring customers to their final destination Monday. We apologize to customers for this inconvenience."
Additionally, due to inclement weather, the rescue plane that the company had requested never showed up. The airline requested that a second plane be brought to Goose Bay, but it took nearly a day for it to show up, so the passengers had to spend the night in military barracks.
Delta said in a statement to The Independent that staff members made arrangements for travelers to get food, water, and lodging from Sunday into Monday. The airlines reported that customers would receive compensation for their delayed travel on Monday morning after they arrived at their ultimate destination at Detroit Metro Airport.
Following a secure landing and passenger disembarkation at the base, the airline collaborated with local authorities to organize lodging. They concluded that housing all the passengers for the night in military barracks, where they would receive food and water, was the best course of action.
An extra plane was sent to bring the passengers and staff home, and as of Monday afternoon, December 11, USA Today reported that the passengers were returning to Detroit, per an airline official.
