Over A Dozen Flights Diverted To Newfoundland

Airports throughout the American Northeast were digging out on Monday after a fierce blizzard dumped more than two feet of snow in places like New York, Providence and Boston. As Aero-News reported earlier, hundreds of flights were canceled over the weekend -- and nobody knows why more than the passengers aboard Turkish Airlines Flight One.

The Airbus A340 (file photo of type, right) arrived Sunday night at New York's JFK, landed on the snowbound runway and -- as it tried to exit to a taxiway -- spun 180 degrees to wind up facing the wrong way on the strip.

It could have been a major tragedy, as the Associated Press reports the plane came to rest just 120 feet from the water in Jamaica Bay.

Fortunately, none of the 197 people on board the Turkish Air flight was injured. An FAA investigation into the incident is already underway.

Removing the plane proved to be a big problem for ground crews at JFK, as the snow-slickened tarmac made it difficult for crews to make it out to the airliner to tow it off the taxiway. It also took more than an hour just to get the passengers offloaded.

More Than A Dozen Flights Diverted

Where did trans-Atlantic flights to the Northeast end up if not at their destinations? A lot of them found safe haven from the storm at the airport in Gander, Newfoundland.

Fourteen planes -- eight passenger flights, and six military and cargo aircraft -- diverted to Gander Sunday alone. Airport officials say up to 2,000 passengers spent much of the day cooling their heels in sunny Newfoundland.

"It was filled, but there was lots of elbow room even though we had a couple thousand people there," said Airport CEO Gary Vey to the Calgary Sun.

Many stayed the night, but airport officials were happy to see most of the wayward passengers continue on to the US.

"We were prepared to hunker down overnight, but the preference was they move on if they could," Vey added.

By 9:00 Sunday night, only two aircraft remained stranded at Gander.

FMI: www.turkishairlines.com/en/index.php, www.ganderairport.com/