More than 200 Jetstar passengers were stuck in limbo for seven hours after their flight was forced to make an emergency landing.
A nine hour flight from Bangkok, Thailand to Melbourne turned into a lengthy nightmare for the passengers on board flight JQ30 on Saturday night.
About half way through the flight, a passenger experienced a suspected stroke prompting the crew to take urgent action and request an emergency landing at the nearest airport.
When the Boeing 787 landed at Alice Springs airport, routine checks of the aircraft uncovered an electrical fault that meant the plane could no longer fly.
A second plane was needed to get the hundreds of passengers to their destination in Melbourne.
As Alice Springs Airport is not an international airport, the passengers were told they could not leave the plane to stretch their legs.
After waiting on the tarmac for seven hours, passengers were then escorted off the plane but still had to wait in a room at the terminal before eventually boarding a replacement plane.
They finally touched down in Melbourne after 11pm
“I think everyone on the flight that was there for 11 hours, deserves a refund just the same,” passenger Will Kiss told Sunrise on Monday morning.
“Everyone had an awful experience.”
To make matters worse, the in-flight entertainment systems had to be turned off to keep the aircraft cool as daytime temperatures soared to 36C on Sunday.
Jetstar crew reportedly offered passengers water, tea and coffee but it was eight hours before any food was offered.
Babies can be heard crying and passengers appear visibly exhausted in video taken from inside the cabin at some point during the marathon layover.
Mr Kiss said passengers were mostly left in the dark for the eleven hours with “sparse and ambiguous” updates throughout the day.
“Obviously we are hoping the gentleman who had the medical emergency is OK but the negligence of the airline in general, I think somebody needs to answer for,” he said.
Passengers were finally allowed to exit the plane and rest inside the terminal after 11 hours with photos showing them sleeping on the floor.
“Everyone was at the end of their tether and had had enough by that point,” Mr Kiss said.
A flight to Melbourne was arranged to depart on Sunday night with the passengers bags set to arrive on Monday morning.
Jetstar has apologised for the impact on passengers.
“Safety is always our first priority,” a spokesman said.
“We thank passengers for their understanding and apologise to them for the impact to their journey when we had to divert to Alice Springs to support a passenger requiring urgent medical assistance after they experienced a suspected stroke on board.
“Upon arrival into Alice Springs the passenger was taken to hospital by ambulance.
“Being a domestic airport Alice Springs does not have customs processing facilities, and when there was a further delay as a result of an electrical fault while the aircraft was on the ground, we worked with Border Agencies, the NT Police and the local Airport Authority to give passengers the option to disembark into a specially partitioned section of the Airport. We worked with the airport to provide drinks and food.
“When the replacement aircraft arrived, passengers were transferred directly onto the replacement aircraft which landed in Melbourne just after 11pm last night.
“We appreciate this has been a lengthy delay and apologise to passengers for the difficult experience. We thank passengers for their patience and understanding as we supported the passenger requiring urgent medical assistance and worked to get everyone else on their way as quickly as possible.”
NCA Newswire has contacted Jetstar for additional comment.
