A 16-hour flightmare

Starving passengers rationed Pringles

By JEREMY OLSHAN

Last Updated: 1:09 PM, March 16, 2010

Posted: 3:24 AM, March 16, 2010

Comments: 67

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They were supposed to be taking a direct flight from LAX to JFK -- but wound up on a 16-hour nightmare tour by air and bus of New York state.

Before finally arriving at their destination, the starving passengers of jinxed Virgin America Flight 404 had been stranded on a tarmac for seven hours and forced to ride a bus for another 2½ hours.

At one point, food supplies aboard the plane were so low that Pringles chips had to be rationed: four chips apiece, furious passengers told The Post.

"That's all we got -- four chips and half a cup of water," said disgusted flier Justin Gordon, 23.

Flight 404 had left LA at 7:10 a.m. (PST) -- 10:10 a.m. New York time -- Saturday and was due to arrive at JFK at 3:30 p.m.

But because of 60-mph winds here, the plane was forced to circle JFK until it was finally diverted to Stewart Airport in Newburgh -- 90 miles north -- for a 5:15 p.m. landing.

There, the plane remained on the tarmac until close to midnight, passengers say. The airline said the wait was more like 4½ hours.

Either way, passengers were growing increasingly frustrated -- with one woman suffering a panic attack. She was escorted off by police. The remaining cranky passengers included Carrie Ann Inaba of "Dancing with the Stars," the CEO of a social-networking firm who made videos and Twitter posts throughout the ordeal, and three screaming babies.

The captain and flight crew seemed to be overwhelmed, too, said David Martin, CEO of Kontain.com, who posted the frequent updates online.

"One guy said he had a question, and the flight attendant started shouting at this guy, 'You are really getting on my freaking nerves! You need to shut the hell up!' " Martin said.

He added, "Carrie Anne and I tried to bring cookies on the plane to the mothers with babies, and the flight attendants started snapping at us."

The passengers' white knight finally arrived -- in the form of JetBlue.

Contacted by the Virgin America captain because JetBlue has facilities at Stewart and Virgin doesn't, the competing airline sent over staffers, who boarded the plane.

"Ladies and gentleman, we're here to get you off the plane," a JetBlue employee said to cheers.

JetBlue arranged for buses to transport the passengers to Kennedy. Exhausted, the riders finally arrived at 2 a.m. -- actually, 3 a.m. because of the changeover to Daylight Savings Time.

Adding insult to injury, the Virgin plane had left Stewart empty -- and beat the passengers back to JFK.

After seeing Martin's posts and videos the next day, Virgin America CEO David Cush called him and Inaba to apologize, promising a full refund and $100 credit to all passengers.

jeremy.olshan@nypost.com

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tillyboos

03/21/2010 12:23 AM

Ok, ok, ok. I think 16 hours is a LITTLE extreme, since it usually only takes 6 hours from LAX to JFK, even with questionable weather. That said, I've never experienced that problem flying VA, and I do fly them regularly. However, I agree with all of you about flight attendants attitudes on board though -- I've experienced VA's flight crews "we're so cool, cause we're new" attitude. That's what I don't like -- thank god, the last time I flew them last Summer, we went from SFO-Boston (and back again, I might add), with no events. Up to now, the only disaster I've ever had with something like this was being diverted from JFK to Boston Logan back in 1991 on an El-Al flight from Tel Aviv. We ended up on the tarmac for 4 hours on top of a 12-hour flight. So, 16 hours is doable, but not pleasant. However, you always need to be prepared for whatever might happen. You just never know. These people found that out the hard way. Me? I'm from Brooklyn originally -- I would've demanded to be deplaned, claimed my luggage at the Jet Blue luggage carousel and then taken Greyhound or Amtrak into Manhattan from Stewart. Screw the noise of waiting for them to provide a bus. Stewart IS only an hour away from Manhattan. Had VA's crew dropped the attitude, this would've been handled alot more smoothly. I think the major issue was that no one knew the airport or the area and that screwed things up majorly.
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kkua

03/17/2010 11:35 AM

Call me superstitious... like web pages that display Error 404, Flight 404 was not found at JFK during its designated time.
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avaleigh

03/17/2010 4:27 AM

Virgin Airline needs to fix this problem so that it does not happen again. They should also have emergency snacks stored on the plane if it does.If the front line stewardesses can keep thir cool and be gracious and reassuring then the passengers would be less irritable and more relaxed.You dont want loss of confidence to occur at ant time during the flight orsitting on the tarmac.
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avaleigh

03/17/2010 3:32 AM

drew 767-- what are you doing up this time of the morning ?? i am only asking because i found that some of the posts get funnier in the wee hours of the morning!!!!like why are we on here???? That in itself is too hilarious!!!The Tiger woods stuff gets really funny even though i am sick of it by now!!!!
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drew767

03/17/2010 3:26 AM

avaleigh, fair enough. $1000. agreed on snapping. they may have lost their cool for a moment, but agreed. and yes. stuck on the plane, i do just want to get off. good argument :-)
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avaleigh

03/17/2010 3:06 AM

drew 767--you are right .I meant one thousand dollars.i still think flight attendants should not snap at the clientel. They should keep their cool at all times.i do agree with you that this site can be hilarious. I was stuck on a flight to mexico in 2007 and thought i dont want to go that badly just let me off this plane. (sat on the tarmack for 6 hours)It was not worth it.
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DeQuincy

03/17/2010 3:02 AM

ava: you can't sue due to some delay caused by the weather or equipment failure or accidents etc etc But an airline cannot force people who are on the plane to remain there if there's a way of allowing them to safely leave.And that can very easily be arranged. The plane wasn't stuck in the landing or takeoff lane and it could have been arranged to let the people who wanted off to get off. Even if there was no delay and someone wanted to get off while they're on the ground they have to accomodate them.
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DeQuincy

03/17/2010 2:50 AM

drew: why would the airport have any authority to arrest someone who wishes to get off a plane? People do get off planes at airports.Have the plane taxi to a convenient area and just let the people who want to leave get off the plane and go into the terminal and leave.