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Cabin Fever: Aeromexico Passengers Stuck on Diverted Plane Call 911

Jan. 11, 2019
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2 min read
Aeromexico airplanes at Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Ju??rez
Cabin Fever: Aeromexico Passengers Stuck on Diverted Plane Call 911
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Aeromexico flight passengers were in for a long day after their flight was diverted from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Oakland International Airport (OAK). Due to disputes between the airline and the airport, travelers aboard the plane were held for four hours on the tarmac leading to 911 calls, near-arrests and a trip to the hospital.

Flight 622 landed on Thursday in OAK from Guadalajara at 10:30am following a diversion due to heavy fog. The airline said in a statement that it had no Oakland operations and that it needed special authorization from the airport to deplane passengers. However, this resulted in the passengers being held aboard the plane with no air conditioning, food or water. Eventually, some passengers took it upon themselves to contact authorities, calling 911 to say that they were being held on the plane against their will.

Some passengers took to social media to air their complaints:


Things really took off from there, as one "unruly" passenger was detained for threatening to open the emergency door exit and another for interfering with the aircraft and flight crew. However, both men were allowed to eventually leave the aircraft without being arrested. Another woman had difficulty breathing in the hot, stuffy airplane and had to be given oxygen. Eventually, she was taken to the hospital.

By Thursday afternoon, the plane was moved to Gate 1 at OAK and passengers were finally allowed to disembark the plane and head to the terminal after four hours. Oakland Airport, in a statement, later disputed Aeromexico's reasoning, saying that it is an airline's decision whether to allow passengers to deplane at the diversion airport.

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