Lauderdale Jet Passengers Stuck On Tarmac For Seven Hours

NEW YORK (CBSMiami/AP) – Record snowfall up north stranded a JetBlue plane full of passengers from Ft. Lauderdale on the tarmac in Connecticut for more than seven hours.

A JetBlue spokeswoman, Victoria Lucia, confirmed in an emailed statement that six of its planes, carrying a total of about 700 passengers, were diverted to Hartford as a result of a "confluence of events" including infrastructure issues at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and Newark International Airport.  A total of 17 other flights were also diverted to Hartford.

Lucia said that intermittent power outages at the airport made refueling and deplaning difficult. She declined to specify how long planes sat on the tarmac.

Sun Sentinel reporter Andrew Carter was on the flight to cover Sunday's Dolphins' game. His plane took off from Fort Lauderdale for Newark International Airport at around 9 a.m. After being diverted to Hartford, the plane sat on the tarmac between around 1:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., he said. He said the longer they sat, the worse things got.

"The toilets were backed up. When you flushed, nothing would happen," said Carter who noted the plane ran out of snacks and bottled water.

Lucia said those passengers on diverted flights who sat though deplaning delays would be reimbursed.

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