Southwest flight headed to Raleigh diverted to Myrtle Beach after plane began to shake ‘like crazy’

What should have been a 75-minute flight turned into a nine-hour nightmare for passengers on a Southwest flight from Baltimore to Raleigh.

The incident happened on Southwest Flight 3094 on Friday when the plane began to shake “like crazy,” causing several passengers to vomit and one person to pass out.

The plane was sent to Myrtle Beach Airport amidst the turbulence, and the passengers were left without food or information for hours as their flight crew took off.

According to a couple on board, the plane was nearing its destination in Raleigh when it was aborted at the last minute due to bad weather.

“It was quite a horrifying experience — we’re going to land in Raleigh and the plane starts shaking like crazy — and then 15 minutes later they decide to tell us we’re going to Myrtle Beach,” said passenger Nicholas Reed.

According to a couple on board, the plane was nearing its destination in Raleigh when it was aborted at the last minute due to bad weather

This is the original flight path the plane should take. It was eventually diverted to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Reed was traveling with his girlfriend, Krys Spence, when they returned from a cruise.

According to CBS17the Boeing 737 – which was full – was kept on the tarmac for hours, allowing the passengers to enter and find a closed airport.

“We couldn’t go anywhere because they wouldn’t give us our luggage,” Reed said. “A group of guys found a bar and went after it and just started pouring themselves drinks — because there was no security.”

Southwest officials told the Raleigh station that the weather problems the plane faced on approach to Raleigh also caused the plane to run low on fuel.

Reed and Spence said the plane, which was scheduled to depart around 6:40 p.m. Friday, wasted nearly an hour’s worth of gasoline on the tarmac before taking off.

After finally taking off just after 7:30 p.m., the plane encountered problems around 9:00 a.m. as it approached Raleigh.

“When they came into Raleigh, they started landing like normal. We had the window open in our seats so we could see the ground,” Reed told CBS 17.

Then things took a turn and became

The wings flapped. They were shaking,” Spence said.

“Two people were puking right next to us. But everyone was pretty quiet. I think they were just in a state of ‘this could be it’,” Reed confirmed.

Passengers were trapped for hours at the closed Myrtle Beach airport

This is Nicholas Reed and Krys Spence who were on the Southwest Airlines flight

“Two people were puking right next to us. But everyone was pretty quiet. I think they were just in suspense like ‘this could be it,'” Reed said of the bad turbulence

This is the Raleigh-Durham International Airport where the plane originally went

During the flight, the plane’s altitude dropped to about 450 feet.

“Fifteen minutes go by and the captain comes back and says, ‘Hey, we’ll be in Myrtle Beach in 25 minutes.’ We were like ‘what?’ said Reed.

In a statement to the local TV station, Southwest representatives said they were working quickly to get passengers back on track and schedule following the disruption.

“We have made the decision to safely divert Southwest Flight 3094 (BWI – RDU) to MYR due to weather conditions at RDU,” the representatives said.

“We deployed another crew and aircraft to transport the passengers to their final destination as soon as we were able to do so safely,” it continued.

Reed and Spence said passengers were told another plane was on its way to take them to their final destination.

However, that second plane did not arrive until hours later.

“Then that captain and our flight attendants all leave and we get stuck at the airport. There were no vending machines in the entire terminal. Of course all the restaurants were closed,” Reed said.

“When we came back here to Raleigh at four in the morning, it was a really horrible experience. They didn’t offer us meal vouchers or anything. I was like, we fly southwest all the time,” Reed said.

For hours, passengers sat in the airport without access to food

Spence called it the ‘worst flight experience EVER’ in a post on Facebook

After hours with no food, drink or information about what was happening, the second plane finally arrived.

Just after 1 a.m., the plane from Baltimore arrived in Myrtle Beach to take the group to Raleigh.

“When we came back here to Raleigh at four in the morning, it was a really horrible experience. They didn’t offer us meal vouchers or anything. I was like, we fly southwest all the time,” Reed said.

Southwest Airlines has since apologized for the inconvenience and encouraged passengers to contact customer relations with any concerns.