WASHINGTON — Federal officials said Friday that the airline whose passengers were stranded overnight on a Minnesota airport tarmac wasn't at fault, but they blamed another airline for refusing requests to allow the passengers to enter the airport's terminal.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said an investigation by his department found that the captain of Continental Express Flight 2816 and other officials for ExpressJet, the regional air carrier that operated the flight for Continental Airlines, repeatedly pleaded to allow the passengers to deplane and enter the Rochester terminal.
There were turned down by representatives of Mesaba Airlines, who incorrectly said that the passengers couldn't be allowed inside because Transportation Security Administration personnel had left for the day, LaHood said in a statement. That was incorrect — passengers could have stayed in a separate "sterile" area, he said.
Mesaba was the only airline with staff still at the airport during the incident earlier this month.
The plane left Houston at 9:23 p.m. local time on Aug. 11, but was diverted by thunderstorms to Rochester. Passengers were kept for about six hours waiting inside the cramped plane amid wailing babies and a smelly toilet even though they were only 50 yards from a terminal.
In the morning they were allowed to deplane. They spent about two and a half hours inside the terminal before reboarding the same plane. They arrived in Minneapolis, their destination, after 11 a.m. CDT.
"We have determined that the Express Jet crew was not at fault. In fact, the flight crew repeatedly tried to get permission to deplane the passengers at the airport or obtain a bus for them," LaHood said.
"There was a complete lack of common sense here," the secretary added. "It's no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated."
Mesaba is a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, which is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.
A spokesman for Mesaba parent Delta Air Lines Inc. did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said an investigation by his department found that the captain of Continental Express Flight 2816 and other officials for ExpressJet, the regional air carrier that operated the flight for Continental Airlines, repeatedly pleaded to allow the passengers to deplane and enter the Rochester terminal.
There were turned down by representatives of Mesaba Airlines, who incorrectly said that the passengers couldn't be allowed inside because Transportation Security Administration personnel had left for the day, LaHood said in a statement. That was incorrect — passengers could have stayed in a separate "sterile" area, he said.
Mesaba was the only airline with staff still at the airport during the incident earlier this month.
The plane left Houston at 9:23 p.m. local time on Aug. 11, but was diverted by thunderstorms to Rochester. Passengers were kept for about six hours waiting inside the cramped plane amid wailing babies and a smelly toilet even though they were only 50 yards from a terminal.
In the morning they were allowed to deplane. They spent about two and a half hours inside the terminal before reboarding the same plane. They arrived in Minneapolis, their destination, after 11 a.m. CDT.
"We have determined that the Express Jet crew was not at fault. In fact, the flight crew repeatedly tried to get permission to deplane the passengers at the airport or obtain a bus for them," LaHood said.
"There was a complete lack of common sense here," the secretary added. "It's no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated."
Mesaba is a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, which is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.
A spokesman for Mesaba parent Delta Air Lines Inc. did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
