Passengers Stuck on Tarmac at Reagan Airport Amid Gate Delays
There were multiple reports of lengthy delays at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on the night of May 22-23, with passengers reporting being held on the tarmac for hours waiting to deplane.
Mohammad Shouman recorded this video after midnight, in which the pilot can be heard saying they are waiting for a gate.
Shouman told Storyful that he was stuck on the tarmac for over three hours, after already being delayed for over four hours before departing from Cleveland. According to FlightAware, what was scheduled to be a flight of just over an hour turned into a near eight-hour ordeal for passengers.
American Airlines tweeted Shouman after the plane reached the gate to say they appreciated his patience, and to “apologize for the frustration.”
The airline said strong thunderstorms in the area impacted operations, particularly for regional flights, and “there were additional delays early this morning as arriving flights waited for gate space.” Credit: Mohammad Shouman via Storyful
Video Transcript
- --longer than us. They're waiting for a longer time. They get priority for that gate, so now we are not sure exactly what gate we have assigned to. But hopefully, they'll give us some priority here.
They told us that they're working on it, but he said that we may not have priority [INAUDIBLE] available. So for now we're just waiting on them to call us back. And [INAUDIBLE] like right now, but for now we don't have anything just yet. So I do apologize for that, and as soon we hear something, we'll let you guys know. Thank you.
