Virgin America flight 404, bound from LAX to JFK, took a bit of a detour Saturday, reaching its destination in sixteen hours, instead of the usual six.
Due to 60-mph winds in New York, the plane was forced to circle JFK before it was diverted 90 miles north, to Stewart Airport in Newburgh. The plane then sat on the tarmac for approximately seven hours (until midnight), according to irate passengers.
Things got really ugly when frazzled, snappish flight attendants were forced to ration food and drink; each passenger was allotted a half-cup of water and four Pringles. The angry mob threw cookies and cursed the “flight from hell.” One passenger had to be escorted off the plane by police, due to a panic attack.
A mutiny was averted when rival airline JetBlue — who have facilities at Stewart Airport — arranged for buses to take the passengers to JFK, two hours away. The “flightmare” ended at 3am.
One of the passengers, the CEO of a social marketing firm, kept the world updated on the situation via deadpan Twitter posts and videos of the ordeal.
Virgin America issued a statement apologizing for the debacle: “After reviewing the particular circumstances of this diversion, we agreed that we needed to have done a better job with communicating a difficult situation to our guests.”
Big Brother may not be watching, but there’s no hiding from social media.