MINNEAPOLIS — By its sixth hour sitting on a deserted tarmac, Continental Express Flight 2816 had taken on the smell of diapers and an overwhelmed lone toilet.
What should have been a 2 1/2-hour trip from Houston to Minneapolis had moved into its ninth hour, and the 47 passengers on board had burned through the free pretzels and drinks handed out for their Friday-night flight.
Continental’s dispatchers decided to wait out the storms that had diverted the plane to Rochester, Minn., rather than bus passengers the remaining 85 miles to Minneapolis. It wasn’t until 6 a.m. Saturday — six hours after landing — that Flight 2816’s passengers were allowed to disembark.
Continental Airlines on Monday deferred most questions to ExpressJet Airlines, the regional carrier that operated the flight. Continental did issue an apology to passengers.
Kristy Nicholas, a spokeswoman for ExpressJet Airlines, said passengers couldn’t go to the Rochester terminal to wait out the storms because security screeners had gone home.
