Delta Air Lines Passengers Stuck on the Tarmac for Hours

Passengers of a Delta Air Lines flight were stuck on the tarmac for hours without food, water, or access to clean lavatories.

Delta flight 5062 departed from North Eleuthera, Bahamas on August 12 at 3:15 PM and was originally headed to Atlanta, Georgia. But due to bad weather conditions, it was diverted to Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport in Savannah, Georgia.

Here, passengers were stuck on the tarmac for the next four hours. Aside from not having food and water, lavatories were overflowing with water and waste. Lizzy Philips, who was a passenger on the flight, said on WJCL that “It was just supposed to be a quick hour and a half flight so you don’t bring a lot of food and extra provisions.”

The flight arrived at Savannah at 6:09 PM but it wasn’t until 9:00 PM when flight attendants found and served food and refreshments for the passengers.

According to Philips, one of the bathrooms went out of service at around 8:45 PM. This prompted her child to use a bag in the plane’s galley area.

She said that “She opened up the door, and said oh my god the toilet is overflowing.” Passengers exited the craft at around 10:20 PM.

Why Were the Passengers Stuck on the Tarmac?

So what went wrong? Delta’s spokesperson said that there were only two customs workers present at the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport. And also, another reason is that there were other Delta flights diverted to the airport.

Delta’s statement said that “Flight 5062 from Eleuthera, Bahamas, to Atlanta diverted to Savannah due to inclement weather. Limited accessibility of airport customs agents resulted in the flight crew not being authorized to allow customers to exit the aircraft for an extended period of time.” Delta then apologized for the inconvenience.

In July, a similar incident happened to another Delta flight wherein passengers were stuck on the tarmac. Here, several passengers even needed medical care because of the heat.