Flight from DC stuck on tarmac at Nashville International Airport for hours
WASHINGTON - An American Airlines flight from D.C.'s Reagan National Airport to Nashville International Airport was stuck on the tarmac for more than eight hours Monday after severe winter weather struck the Tennessee area Monday.
The plane left DCA at 10:52 a.m. Monday and landed just before 2 p.m. Passengers were not let off until just before 10 p.m.
Some passengers said they couldn't deplane because the airport didn't have any de-icer, and they were told no gates were available.
Flight from DC stuck on tarmac at Nashville International Airport for hours
"Things happen and weather happens," said Maeve McConville who spoke with FOX 5 after she was able to leave the plane. "But clearly after seven hours, someone is not, you know, doing their job."
American Airlines released the following statement to FOX 5:
"Today’s severe winter weather at Nashville International Airport (BNA) significantly impacted airport operations throughout the day and resulted in a two-hour ground stop for all airlines operating there. These challenging conditions produced unsafe operating conditions, causing cancellations and delays, along with ramp and gate congestion that made it very difficult to safely gate our aircraft. We are deeply sorry to our customers who were affected. Our team is reaching out to them to apologize and provide compensation for their experience."
Read the full statement from the Nashville International Airport Authority below:
Safety is our top priority at Nashville International Airport® (BNA®), and winter conditions require heightened preparations to ensure safe travel. During these periods, we work with our airline partners to assure traveler safety with as few delays as possible. Our Operations and Maintenance Teams have been preparing for weeks in anticipation of the winter weather. On Sunday morning, we activated our 24/7 snow operations center, which is responsible for responding to all operational issues, ensuring adequate inventory of airport supplies and staffing, and serving as a 24/7 center for airlines to report any emergency situations. The team hosts coordination meetings twice a day (6am/6pm) with airlines to discuss the daily operations plan and address any challenges during the winter weather event. Unprecedented icy conditions impacted BNA on Monday, with over six inches of snowfall in a seven-hour period - significantly affecting operations and air travel throughout the day. BNA executed our winter weather plan that consisted of clearing and de-icing airport runways, taxiways, ramps, and all landside areas to ensure passenger safety.Our airline partners are responsible for the management of their flights, including aircraft scheduling, aircraft parking, aircraft deicing, and safely boarding and deplaning passengers. The airlines are assigned specific gates for their operations. Due to shortages in aircraft de-icing supplies and staffing of some of the airlines, some aircraft did not depart at their assigned gate on time and, therefore, did not have gate space available for their next arriving flight. BNA has 54 gates, fully rented, so when an aircraft remains parked at a gate past it’s scheduled departure time, there will be a delay when the next aircraft arrives that was scheduled to park at that gate.We regret that many passengers experienced significant flight delays. We value our partners and our passengers and will continue to work together to ensure safe and efficient operations during all weather conditions.