United flight stranded in
Shanghai for 3 days finally returns to Newark
Steve Borowka arrives at
Newark Airport today after a three-day flight delay in Shanghai on United
Airlines.
NEWARK - A plane carrying 225
people who were stranded for three days in Shanghai landed in Newark this
morning, ending what passengers described as a nightmarish odyssey of
cancellations and confusion.
"It was hard to believe what
anyone was telling us," said Jonathan Sokol, of Manhattan. "We kept getting
closer and closer to leaving and then not leaving."
After three days of
cancellations, a United flight carrying the weary travelers arrived at 11:19
a.m.
"It was a very tough time for the
customers," said Rahsaan Johnson, a spokesman for the airline. "We hope they
give us another chance to win their business."
United will cover passengers'
expenses during the delay and offer each customer a full refund, as well as
$1,000 off of future travel on the airline, Johnson said.
The passengers on United Flight
87 were originally scheduled to take off on their more than 13-hour trip at 3:45
p.m. Shanghai time Wednesday, but "a necessary repair" on the plane led to the
flight being canceled that night and again on Thursday night, Johnson said.
He did not know the type of
repair made to the plane.
About 50 lucky passengers were
put on other flights to the U.S., but packed planes led to the 225 remaining
passengers being stranded.
were all put up in hotels,
Johnson said. On Friday, the plane was fixed, but "we were unable to complete
required predeparture activities" in time for the crew to operate the plane
within federal work rules.
So the hardy travelers stayed one
more night in their hotels
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