More than 200 passengers and crew were forced to spend an impromptu weekend in freezing temperatures on a Canadian island after a United Airlines flight travelling from New York to Ireland was unexpectedly diverted.
United Flight 23 departed Newark Liberty Airport on Thursday 13 February just after 8pm, but around three hours into the six-hour flight, the plane made a wide U-turn and diverted its course to St. John’s International Airport in Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador province.
The airline told The Independent the plane was diverted after a person onboard suffered a medical emergency, landing in Canada around 2.30am so paramedics could assist the ill passenger.
The passenger was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The Boeing 777 was initially unable to to complete its journey to Dublin due to high winds in the area, United said. This meant the 259 passengers and 12 crew ended up spending the entire weekend in sub-zero temperatures on the island.
Among the passengers on the flight was Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, who occupied his unexpected weekend in Canada by presiding over Mass at the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist near the airport.
The archbishop said that the local parish took him in during the delay.
“We left Newark, New Jersey, Thursday on our way to Dublin…and we ended up here with you and we’re still. We are unable to get out due to inclement weather,” Mr Dolan said during the Mass.
As for the rest of the stranded passengers, United siad it provided hotel accommodation and meal vouchers while staying on the island.
Due to the high winds, passengers’ checked luggage in the hold of the plane could not be reached, with one United flyer saying on social media that they went 48 hours without their other clothing during 20F (-6C) temperatures.
The United flyer added that there were multiple elderly passengers and children that had no access to their luggage, and claimed that the local airport helped them more than United, as the airline did not have staff on-site to deal with the situation
St. John’s is a small airport that doesn’t typically handle large Boeing flights, CBS reported, with United Airlines also not having many resources there.
After weather conditions finally improved, the flight was able to fly to Ireland on Sunday morning, arriving in Dublin at 4.21pm.
It is not unheard of for flights diverted to Canada to leave passengers stranded for a few days due to adverse weather.
In December 2023, a Delta flight travelling from Amsterdam to Detroit carrying 270 passengers made an emergency landing at Goose Bay Airport, operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force, in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Delta sent for a rescue plane, but it never arrived due to bad weather conditions.
The airline called for a second plane to be sent to Goose Bay but it took more than 24 hours to arrive, forcing passengers to sleep in military barracks overnight.
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