Passengers aboard a cross-country Delta flight endured over six grueling hours trapped on a Georgia tarmac with no functioning toilets onboard.
A flight bound for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was suddenly diverted to Augusta Regional Airport on Friday due to the heavy rain and severe thunderstorms that swept across the state the day before, WSB-TV 2 News reported.
But instead of their journey ending upon landing, travelers found themselves stranded on the runway for hours, unable to leave.
‘A disheveled mess to say the least,’ Pat McCormack, a passenger on the flight, told the outlet.
‘There was no water on the plane,’ he added. ‘The toilets weren’t working.’
After nearly seven hours sitting motionless on the ground, passengers were finally allowed to disembark.
However, with no plan in place, they were unprepared for the unexpected landing at Augusta – and only one person was available to answer their questions about what to do next.
‘They had no information,’ McCormack told WSB-TV. ‘They had no hotels. They had no ground transportation.’
Passengers aboard a cross-country Delta flight endured over six grueling hours trapped on a Georgia tarmac with no functioning toilets onboard (pictured)
Passenger Pat McCormack (pictured) said that the trip was ‘a disheveled mess to say the least,’ noting the lack of water and functioning toilets on board
The flight flight bound for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was diverted to Augusta Regional Airport (pictured) on Friday due to the heavy rain and severe thunderstorms that swept across the state the day before
Still effectively trapped, McCormack and dozens of other passengers took matters into their own hands, paying out of pocket for transportation from Augusta to Atlanta – a trip of over two hours.
Now, those same travelers are seeking reimbursement – a process that has quickly become another daunting task.
‘Give everybody a voucher for the flight that they originally purchased,’ McCormack said. ‘I paid $1,100 for my flight.’
To request reimbursement, travelers must complete a form using the information the airline emailed to them.
But even after submitting the form, McCormack said he received only a $200 SkyMiles credit – a settlement he considers inadequate for the chaotic ordeal.
Delta has made headlines in recent months for a series of unusual travel mishaps – including a recent incident where an employee filmed a sexual video of himself on a child’s Peppa Pig iPad he found left on a plane in New York City.
The unidentified man was seen masturbating in a video that was uploaded to the iCloud account attached to one of Brooke and Tony Brewer’s children’s iPads, a complaint viewed by Daily Mail revealed.
The man was seen fondling his penis while wearing a lanyard that contained a red Delta ribbon and making facial expressions at the camera, screenshots of the video in the complaint showed.
Delta has made headlines in recent months for a series of unusual travel mishaps (stock)
Recently, a Delta employee filmed a sexual video of himself masturbating on a child’s Peppa Pig iPad he found left on a plane in New York City (pictured)
He also allegedly attempted to access the iPad’s iTunes account and reportedly hacked into the family’s Amazon account, creating a profile named ‘Gay.’
On July 30, passengers on a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam feared for their lives as the plane suddenly dropped more than 1,500 feet before making an emergency landing.
At least 25 people were injured as Delta flight 56 was diverted to Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport just two hours into its eight-hour journey.
Delta confirmed in a statement that severe turbulence rocked the aircraft, with witnesses describing how its impact threw people into the air as beverage carts crashed around inside the cabin.
Data from flight tracking site FlightAware showed that the plane plummeted over 1,600 feet in an 85 second span, with passengers saying that there ‘was a moment where we thought we were going down.’
The flight then continued for over an hour after the terrifying drop before landing safely.
Last month, Delta sparked an internet uproar after allegedly cancelling a flight from Florida due to ‘ice on the runway’ as temperatures neared 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
The bizarre situation emerged when a woman headed from Orlando International Airport (MCO) to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) was alerted her flight had been pushed back an entire day.
On July 30, passengers on a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam feared for their lives as the plane suddenly dropped more than 1,500 feet before making an emergency landing (pictured: aftermath)
Last month, Delta sparked an internet uproar after allegedly cancelling a flight from Florida due to ‘ice on the runway’ as temperatures neared 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside (pictured)
She then reached out to the airline to ask about getting a reimbursement for her hotel room that night.
Her request was denied because the cancelation was ‘weather related,’ according to a Reddit post shared by the flier’s cousin after the fact.
A Delta agent told the customer the flight was called off ‘due to a deicing situation, which means the runway was too slippery’ for takeoff, as shown in a message exchange.
This ‘deicing situation’ was pertaining to the runway in Orlando – where the heat was scorching.
In response to the claim, the customer said: ‘It is 95 degrees in Orlando and 84 degrees in New York City.’
According to AirAdvisor, airlines in the US do not have to financially help their passengers when a flight gets cancelled because of the weather.
They are only required to either rebook the flight or provide a full ticket refund.
Delta has since emailed affected passengers with details on compensation and reimbursement.