Passengers on board a Delta flight that was diverted to a Portuguese island say they were stuck in a secluded part of the airport for 12 hours and had to beg for food, as representatives of the air…
saying they had a “reckless disregard for human life and well-being.” At the airport, Asante-Smith said, the passengers were brought to a “partitioned section” because the Ghanan citizens did not have the requisite visas to enter Portugal.
More than 200 passengers onboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Ghana to New York were forced to wait for 12 hours at an airport on a Portuguese island.Delta flight 157 diverted to the Terceira Islands after experiencing an issue with its backup oxygen system.She told Business Insider they arrived at around 6 a.m., but the crew were soon shuttled away to a hotel – while the passengers were told to remain and contact Delta for more information. “We were trying to reach out to Delta during this time, and ascertain what exactly was going on, to no avail,” said Asante-Smith, who was in Ghana with family and friends to celebrate her marriage. She said airport representatives told them they would be given a meal, and that a plane from Boston would arrive in several hours to pick them up. But at around 11:30 a.m., she wrote on Facebook, “we learned that we would no longer be fed, because according to an airport representative, Delta had informed them that we had already eaten in advance of our landing, a little before 6 a.m.Asante-Smith said she and her fellow passengers were left “befuddled” by the response, with one elderly man asking a representative if he could get a water bottle. Video posted online showed a female staffer at the airport telling the passengers they should be grateful the plane did not crash.He was told in response that he and the other passengers could simply drink water from the bathroom faucets, Asante-Smith claimed, but none of them had cups and only a few had water bottles. After a while, she said, a small cafe in the corner opened up – allowing those with credit cards to purchase some food. Shortly after that, after more “begging and pleading,” they were given ham sandwiches, juice boxes and crackers, Asante-Smith said. “Which is interesting, because anyone who is intimately familiar with West Africa or our Muslim brothers and sisters know that many people have dietary restrictions with eating pork,” she told Insider.She said some members of her travel group received messages from Delta airline representatives that seemed to be copied and pasted, while others were told a rescue plane was coming.While they waited, Asante-Smith described on Facebook how some people, “the elderly, pregnant women, children, became restless, frustrated and confused.” One passenger wrote online that the “elderly, pregnant women, children, became restless, frustrated and confused.”She said they did not receive clear communication from Delta Air Lines about what they could expect.And when they asked for more information from staffers at the airport, a woman told them they shouldn’t “start a revolution” and said they should be “grateful at a second chance at life,”“This female rep told us we should be grateful that they allowed us to be here, and our plane didn’t crash in the sea,” she tweeted. Finally, at around 6 p.m., a flight finally arrived at the Lajes Airport and brought them to John F. Kennedy International Airport. The passengers, many of whom were still frustrated, then tried to bring their complaints to Delta representatives in New York, Asante-Smith said, but were told the airline was overwhelmed.
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