Passenger from Alberta recounts being stuck on plane for nearly 8 hours at Calgary airport

A Spruce Grove woman is speaking out to CityNews after she says she and her family were stuck inside a WestJet plane for several hours on the tarmac at the Calgary International Airport.

“7.75 hours trapped on an airplane in Calgary, driving around on a tarmac with a plane full of people and lots of children,” said Sandra Martel, who was stuck on a plane for several hours.

It was supposed to be a relaxing trip to the Bahamas for Martel and her family in late March. Flying out of Calgary, Martel, along with her son, daughter-in-law, and young grandchildren, were set to leave when a snowstorm delayed take-off.

Martel says while the storm cleared eventually, frozen engine trouble delayed the flight further. Eventually, passengers were told the plane couldn’t take off and would have to return to the airport, but the wait for a gate, which also took hours, leaving passengers stuck on the plane the entire time.

“They served us pretzels at this time. I’m a diabetic. So a little bag of pretzels and a chocolate covered cookie is not great for a diabetic. At this point, they told us they ran out of water, so they were going to serve us coke,” she explained.

Martel says she was on the plane from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., calling it a horrific experience that her daughter-in-law documented.

She and her family were able to disembark the plane nearly eight hours later, adding that after another several hours on the phone, and alternative flights to the Bahamas that were also delayed, Martel eventually paid out of pocket to fly from Toronto to Nassau.

She’s now waiting to see if WestJet will approve her out-of-pocket expenses.

“What about all our food, hotels, and Ubers? Like I said, I had to buy another plane ticket, plus the loss of the condo in the Bahamas, which is very expensive. Will there be compensation?” asked Martel.

Under Canadian air passenger rights laws, passengers can only be kept inside an airplane for a maximum of three hours, and the airline must provide food, water, and bathrooms. But that time can be pushed back if a pilot believes take-off is ‘imminent’. That’s three hours and forty-five minutes after the airplane doors close.

CityNews reached out repeatedly to WestJet for comment on what happened with Martel’s flight to the Bahamas, as well as clarification around how long passengers can be kept on an airplane, but hasn’t received a response at this time.