A Delta Air Lines suddenly rerouted a Madrid-to-New York flight to a small island in the Azores archipelago, stranding passengers for nearly 29 hours, Business Insider reported.
Flight 127, which departed about 1 PM on Sunday, was four hours into the journey when pilots detected indications of a possible engine issue. In line with aviation safety guidelines, the pilots steered the flight to the closest appropriate airport, Lajes Airport on Terceira Island, over 1,600 kilometers away from mainland Portugal.
An hour later, after turning around, the Airbus A330, a 21-year-old plane, safely landed at the airport. Still, Terceira is a distant island with minimal commercial air service and a runway that is mostly for military planes, leaving travelers without an immediate way to continue their trip.
Rescue Plane Sent From New York
Delta sent a second plane—Flight 9927—from New York’s JFK Airport, five hours after the emergency landing of Flight 127. The rescue plane arrived in Terceira at about 2 AM local time on Monday and finally took off at 9 PM that evening. Passengers arrived in New York at 10:22 PM ET, over 31 hours behind schedule from the originally planned landing time.
A Delta representative commented on the incident, saying, “We truly apologize to our passengers for their experience and the inconvenience in their journeys.”
The airline assured that pilots did the right thing by diverting to the nearest safe airport.
Whispers of a Similar 2023 Incident
The experience is similar to a 2023 experience, when another Delta flight—this one from Ghana to the US—also diverted to Lajes Airport on a mechanical problem with a spare oxygen system. In that incident, travelers remained on the island for 12 hours and complained about a lack of communication, poor treatment, and minimal provisions.
One traveler took to Facebook, “We were told to use water from bathroom sinks to drink, and Delta left us behind.”
Another claimed, “This female rep told us we should be thankful that they let us remain here and our plane didn’t come crashing down in the ocean.”
Delta has kept the original plane from Flight 127 grounded at Terceira so far.