Frozen in the Tundra: A United Flight’s 16‑Hour Chill‑Out
Picture this: a United Airlines flight berths at a Canadian airport, the jet’s interior no warmer than a snowed‑over jacket, and a crew that’s about to be grilled like their out‑of‑date coffee. It all started on January 19, when United Flight 179 kissed the runway at Newark, blasting off toward Hong Kong with roughly 250 passengers aboard.
The “Emergency” (And the Freezing) Crisis
Pressed for 30 minutes, a passenger slipped into a medical fiasco. The pilots, thinking they were doing the right thing, diverted straight to Goose Bay airport in Newfoundland‑Labrador. The crew and passenger’s paramedics rushed him to the local hospital.
But the real setback came when the pilot was about to lift off again. The temperature outside had hit a brutal -30 °C, and the door had frozen solid. Gone was the hope of a quick get‑back‑on‑the‑road.
Between the Cold and the Staffing Gap
Night fell on a “no‑one‑in‑the‑desk” kind of night. With customs officers off duty, every passenger left stranded on the flight’s shoulders, shivering under the fine‑thin blanket of flight attendants’ love. They got about 10 hours of dwindling food & water, and then—voilà—a rescue squad appeared, armed with… Tim Hortons. They can’t say they brought hot cocoa, just the good‑old “coffee & donuts” combo.
Passenger Reactions Bet Mid–Journey as You’d Expect
One of the passengers, Mr. Sonjay Dutt, couldn’t resist spilling the truth over his phone:
“This plane is under‑heated. The arrival of coffee and donuts isn’t enough.”
(Excerpts from a tweet)
That, plus a couple of witty tweets throughout, kept the mood flaring. Dutt ended up saying, “It’s been a long long long long day.”
The Aftermath & Canadian Cold Wave
- A rescue aircraft arrived late Sunday morning in Goose Bay.
- Passengers were bused onto a fresh plane and took off in the afternoon back to Newark.
- At the same time, Canada—especially the east—was squeezed by a brutal cold snap, leading to a flurry of flight cancellations.
So yes, the United crew managed a 16‑hour frustration clause on a very icy runway. They survived. And, of course, the passengers made it back to the cumulative warmth of Newark, right behind their original flight path.
