Airline: Pilot asked to unload stranded passengers, but official threatened to arrest them
By APThursday, June 24, 2010
Airline says it asked to unload plane in CT
WASHINGTON — Virgin Atlantic says its pilot asked for permission to unload passengers stranded on a grounded plane in Connecticut but a customs official threatened to have them arrested if they got off the plane.
Greg Dawson, a London spokesman for the airline, said in an e-mail Thursday the flight’s captain was told by a customs official at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks that passengers couldn’t get off the plane until more immigration officials arrived. He said that it took over two hours for the officials to arrive.
Airport officials have said there was only one customs official at the airport Tuesday night when the flight from London to Newark, N.J., was diverted due to poor weather.
Some passengers passed out on the hot plane.
