Travellers 'abandoned in middle of the Atlantic' as Miami to London flight diverted to Bermuda - iNews

Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Miami to London have complained of being “abandoned in the middle of the Atlantic” after their flight was forced to make an emergency diversion to Bermuda.

The airline said “possible mechanical issues” had forced flight AA38 to change course around three hours after taking off from Miami International Airport late on Sunday on its way to London Heathrow.

The Boeing 777-300’s 303 passengers instead landed at the small LF Wade International Airport in the British overseas territory – which typically sees only a handful of flights a day – where they were left facing a 20-hour wait for a flight to take them onwards to London.

The passengers were not allowed to leave the airport due to Bermuda’s Covid-19 requirements, and say it took almost 10 hours before anyone brought them food – while there were just eight toilets available and no showers.

Jonathan Lo, musical director at Northern Ballet, was on the flight on his way home to the UK with his fiancee Laura Day, the 29-year-old principal character artist at the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

On the final journey of an “epic trip” which had seen Mr Lo, 35, propose in Cape Town, South Africa, the couple – who live between London and Birmingham – had been “dozing off” when the captain told passengers there was “an indication of overheating electronics”.

“A little later on it was backed up by a further announcement to say that, actually, they could smell smoke in the aircraft cockpit,” he said.

Mr Lo said when they landed in Bermuda there was “quite a dramatic scene” with fire engines following the aircraft, but he understood this to be standard procedure and a precaution.

“All was going quite smoothly until we got into the terminal,” he added.

Mr Lo said passengers waited for over three hours until their first update on the situation, and it only became clear they would need to sleep at the airport at around 5am local time – when airport staff provided them with blankets and pillows taken from the aircraft itself.

It was only much later that the passengers, including “really hungry” children, were brought food.

He said: “(We feel) abandoned by the airline really… literally in the middle of the Atlantic.

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“When we landed, we didn’t know how long it was going to be… had we been kept updated regularly, we would have been able to make plans and I’m sure the airport staff would have been able to make plans quicker.”

Danny Wells, an IT engineer from Hertfordshire, was on his way back from a holiday in Miami when he was caught in the disruption.

“We have had to take an extra two days holiday from work as we were due to work this morning but will not be able to work tomorrow either,” the 32-year-old told PA.

“We have a family house sitting, and both have now had to take the day off tomorrow as well as they are looking after animals.

“(There are) rows of people asleep on the floor, the lights have been on almost all night (and) everyone is freezing because the air con is on so they had to get everyone’s blanket from the plane.”

The replacement flight is due to finally take off from Bermuda on Monday evening local time, landing in the UK on Tuesday morning.

It is understood the flight was unable to continue due to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s mandated crew rest requirements after maintenance teams had inspected the aircraft.

American Airlines said in a statement: “American Airlines flight 38, from Miami (MIA) to London (LHR), diverted to Bermuda (BDA) this morning after a possible mechanical issue.

“We never want to disrupt our customers’ travel plans, and we apologise for the trouble this has caused.”

Additional reporting by Press Association

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