Bad weather around New York’s JFK Airport last Thursday forced a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to divert to nearby Newark Airport. However, after four attempted landings at JFK, passengers were rattled by the time the plane touched down at Newark, and many wanted to get off. However, JetBlue wouldn’t allow that, and now the bumpy flight is hitting the headlines as footage of irate passengers goes viral.
Four missed landings at JFK Airport
JetBlue flight B61852 rolled down the runway in Cancun (CUN) just before 14:00 local time on Thursday, April 7. The three-hour and 15 minute 1,550 mile (2,500 kilometer) flight up to New York was uneventful until it approached New York JFK Airport. Stormy weather caused four missed landings before the pilots decided to divert to Newark (EWR).
The plane, an Airbus A321-200 (registration N973JT), landed safely at Newark soon after. But once on the ground, trouble started when several passengers demanded to disembark. But the crew said everyone would need to sit tight, and they’d be going back to JFK when the weather there cleared.
“My kids are panicking, people are sick back there, we’ve got to get off this plane,” one male passenger was filmed telling the harried flight attendants. “It’s dangerous; we’ve tried to land four times already. Take me to jail; I don’t care.”
“It’s not just one person,” another passenger was heard saying. “Everyone wants to get off.” The footage shows several passengers clearly keen to get off the plane while it was on the ground in Newark and flight attendants (who had no control over disembarkation decisions) doing a sterling job of keeping things under control. While some passengers were agitated, none physically or verbally threatened any JetBlue crew. Flight attendants were filmed calmly asking passengers to settle and sit down.
“It was really bumpy,” US media reporting on this aviation news quotes passenger Sabrina Ettinger saying. “And then going down really fast and then going back up. And it was definitely a lot of motion sickness.”
JetBlue’s explanation
In the washup, JetBlue confirmed the diversion to Newark was weather-related. “The safety of our customers and crew members is our first priority, and our pilots are well-trained to manage severe weather. On April 7, flight 1852 with service from Cancun to JFK diverted to Newark due to severe weather over JFK,” a JetBlue spokesperson said.
“The aircraft remained on the ground for 60 minutes, and once it was safe to do so, departed again for JFK, where it landed, and customers on this international flight could properly clear US Customs and Immigration. No injuries were reported, and we apologize for the inconvenience this weather-related diversion created.”
By the time passengers were allowed off the plane, they’d been on it for seven hours. JetBlue offered passengers a US$50 voucher as compensation, but you might think, JetBlue’s fault or not, many of those passengers will choose another airline for their next flight.
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