Mechanical failures on an American Airlines flight delayed a group of customers traveling from Lima, Peru, to Dallas for three days until the carrier finally re-booked them on different flights.
Now passengers are furious at the airline for waiting so long to put them on a new aircraft.
“We were literally prisoners,” airlines-flight-hell-left-passengers-stranded-Peru-THREE-DAYS.html?ITO=applenews” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>passenger Andrew Perez said.
American Airlines Flight 988 was due to depart Lima for Dallas on September 9 and was canceled – for three consecutive days. Each day the passengers reported back to the airport in Peru, and each day they waited only to be told there were mechanical problems with the 18-year-old Boeing 757 aircraft.
Although, on one day, airport staff apparently did not file the requisite paperwork in time for flight to depart.
The initial delay came on the day of the flight when passengers waited more than two hours on the runway before being de-planed and put up in hotels in Lima.
American figured it would be able to fix the problem overnight, but when the passengers returned the next day the flight was again cancelled after they actually boarded the plane and sat on the runway again, this time for an hour.
Passengers had to then leave the airport again, clear passport control, again, and again check into a hotel.
The trip finally concluded on the third day when American was able to book some passengers on new flights and new aircraft, while others “took destiny into their own hands” and flew home on the repaired aircraft.
A spokesman for the airline said it was working to “make things right” by the passengers.
