Nearly Two Dozen Planes Stranded On Tarmac During Northeast Snowstorm

The FAA says it will look into the situation at Hartford's Bradley International Airport in which passengers from nearly two dozen planes were stranded on board for as long as seven hours. The planes, including one international flight, had been diverted to Hartford from other destinations due to record early snowfall in the northeast corridor over the weekend.

Six of those airplanes were JetBlue flights. One, an American flight from Paris to New York, had been en-route for nine hours before sitting seven additional hours on the ground in Hartford. A passenger on that flight told USA Today that the American crew offered snacks and water every couple of hours, and that the pilot did his best to let the passengers know what was going on, but that the information getting to the pilot was sketchy.

Among the issues contributing to the problems were that Hartford reportedly did not have the U.S. Customs personnel in place to process the arriving international flights. American spokesman Tim Smith said they were not allowed to deplane the passengers until additional customs officers arrived, which took several hours.

Passengers on another flight were told that the airport was not equipped to handle Boeing 767 aircraft, which meant the airline was not able to get passenger's baggage off the plane.

The FAA is looking into the the chain of events which left hundreds of people stuck on planes, in many cases with no food, overflowing lavatories, and little drinkable water. "The FAA is undertaking a comprehensive review of Saturday's operations in the northeast including, air traffic procedures, aircraft diversions, weather and equipment performance," spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

Flyers Rights executive director Kate Hanni said she had been told that the Hartford airport was actually reducing staff in anticipation of the storm, which left insufficient gate personnel to handle the influx of airplanes diverted from other airports. She is suggesting new DOT rules to fine airports in these situations similar to the rules that went into effect in 2010 establishing fines for airlines which sometimes left passengers sitting on planes for hours. "The problem here is that the airports are not subject to potential fines, and have not kept their word," she told the paper.

FMI: www.faa.gov