EXCLUSIVE: Frustrated passengers on United flight from London to Los Angeles are left stranded on tarmac in MONTREAL for five hours after plane was forced to make emergency landing
What was supposed to be a 10-hour direct flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles turned into a nightmare for United passengers who were stuck on the tarmac in Montreal for nearly five hours after their plane was forced to make an emergency landing. change course and land.
Flight UA935 from London was dramatically diverted to Canada after a passenger suffered a medical event over the Atlantic.
The diversion saw the aircraft perform two ‘irregular’ turns, causing significant turbulence as it changed course.
Once in Montreal, paramedics removed the ill traveler from the plane, leaving passengers to endure five hours with intermittent power and little food and water as the plane was assessed for damage after its sudden course change.
“The turmoil was ridiculous,” he said. ‘It was so volatile. Definitely the roughest I’ve ever experienced,’ a passenger exclusively told DailyMail.com.
Two ‘irregular’ turns caused waves of turbulence with little warning
Passengers had to sit in the dark for almost five hours with rising temperatures and little food available
Passengers were asked to disembark at Chicago airport, clear customs and then board a new plane to LAX
But their woes didn’t stop there – once the plane was cleared to continue, the flight was then diverted to Chicago, where passengers were asked to leave, clear customs and then board another flight.
They are currently en route to Los Angeles and are expected to land within the next few hours.
A passenger said they only realized something was wrong when flight crew called for help to assist someone in distress.
“They made an urgent call over the intercom across the Atlantic if there were any doctors, nurses or medics of any kind on board,” he explained.
It was decided that the passenger needed attention – although the illness was not disclosed – quickly and the plane was diverted to Montreal, but in order to adjust course, the plane performed two ‘irregular’ turns, causing the plane to jerked ‘violently’.
The passenger said it felt like an earthquake, leaving people ‘very, very confused.’
The pilot said there was little warning, with flight attendants ordering everyone to remain calm in their seats with their seat belts fastened as they took to their landing positions with just a minute to go before things got bad.
Montreal paramedics took the sick passenger off when they landed, but the remaining travelers were left stranded on the tarmac in Montreal for nearly five hours while the plane was checked.
The passenger told DailyMail.com there was no power on the tarmac except for intermittent bursts of light lasting minutes ‘here and there’.
“The hostesses had to get the life jackets, wear them and stand at each exit and activate the flare so we could see,” he said.
He said ‘it felt like a sauna’ on the plane.
Although passengers felt ‘frustrated and hot’, he said people were mostly just focused on getting to their final destination.
Another passenger took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say: ‘Flight UA935 sitting on tarmac in Montreal for 4+ hours!!!’
Temperatures began to climb as travelers sat in the dark without power while their plane was checked
Passengers seen waiting on the plane before take off to Chicago
The plane is now on its way to LAX and has been delayed for over 12 hours
According to United’s Tarmac Delay Contingency Plan, the airline will not allow a plane to remain on the tarmac for more than four hours before allowing passengers to depart, unless there are specific circumstances.
The passenger says they were eventually given the option to disembark, but claim they were told by Canadian officials they would be detained for two weeks.
‘As it is illegal to hold us on the tarmac for more than four hours, we were offered to get off but if we did we would not be allowed back on the plane.
‘If we didn’t have the right documents, we could be caught in Canada and/or detained for 2 weeks,’ a passenger claimed.
“Canadian authorities also said this over the intercom on the plane. Basically, Canada wanted nothing to do with us.’
United’s guidelines also state that passengers will be provided with “adequate food and drinking water,” but the passenger says there were few options for travelers while they waited.
“(The airline was) totally unprepared,” he said. ‘The worst of all was the almost five hours on the tarmac with no information and Canada not letting us go. That’s what frustrated everyone.’
He added that passengers became hungry after being provided with a full dinner meal about two and a half hours into the first flight.
For the duration, another seven hours in the air plus another five on the tarmac and two more hours for the flight to Chicago, there were only ‘small snacks’ of cookies and mini chocolate bars.
“We just stayed on the plane until technicians got it right, but the plane could only fly to Chicago.”
The plane is expected to land in Los Angeles this morning.
DailyMail.com has contacted United for comment.