July 2, 2013, a Korean Air Boeing 777 with 273 passengers aboard was en route from Chicago to Seoul when it had a drop in pressure as jet fuel was being pumped into the engine. The left engine broke down. After the malfunction, the pilots dumped fuel and diverted to Anadyr airport in Russia, where they made an emergency landing.
Passengers had to wait inside the plane until the replacement jet arrived, so that with ten hours on the ground made a 13 hour flight almost 24 hours long for passengers.
The malfunctioning jet was grounded in Russia pending inspection.
I’d like to consider two additional points for those passengers stuck on their plane:
As Anadyr airport is not one we have visited, we wonder if there is no Customs facility at Anadyr airport for individuals without visas to get some relief from the plane, which had to be exceedingly uncomfortable. Certainly there must be some humane way to abide by international law.
This excessive time stretches some IATA standards of passenger accommodation from both airline and airport. The question isn’t whether passengers are entitled to some kind of compensation for their time and trouble, but rather how the airline and airport are going to recompense the passengers.
Caribbean Airlines flight BW-552 made an emergency landing in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on August 29th.
Hop! Airlines flight A5-3557 made an emergency landing in Strasbourg, France, on February 14th.
Scandinavian Airlines flight SK-4479 had to reject takeoff from Kirkenes, Norway, on April 23rd.