The Department of Transportation says Express Jet was not to blame when 47 passengers were stranded aboard one its planes on the tarmac at Rochester, Minnesota's airport earlier this month.
The passengers were trapped in the small plane for six and a half hours with nothing but pretzels to eat. After its initial investigation, DOT said the crew of the airliner acted properly.
"We have determined that the ExpressJet crew was not at fault. In fact, the flight crew repeatedly tried to get permission to deplane the passengers at the airport or obtain a bus for them," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.
"The local representative of Mesaba Airlines improperly refused the requests of the captain to let her passengers off the plane," LaHood said. "The representative incorrectly said that the airport was closed to passengers for security reasons, which led to this nightmare for those stuck on the plane."
The 50-seat commuter jet took off at 9:30 pm August 7 from Houston, bound for Minneapolis. However, after a two-hour flight, it was diverted to Rochester, Minnesota because of severe weather.
ExpressJet, the carrier operating the plane for Continental, told a Minneapolis TV station that the planes crew had reached the limit on its flying time. That required locating another crew and flying it to Rochester.
Meanwhile, the passengers of flight 2816 had to stay on the plane. The airline told the station they were not allowed to deplane the passengers because off because of security. The TSA screeners had already gone home for the night so, if the passengers deplaned, the airline could not legally allow them to get back on. At least, that's what the plane's flight crew was told. As it turns out, it wasn't the case.
The representative of Mesaba - the only carrier able to assist Continental at the airport - said that the airport was closed to passengers, apparently because there was no one from the Transportation Security Administration available to screen passengers. In fact, TSA procedures allow passengers to get off the plane, enter the terminal and re-board without being screened again as long as they remain in a sterile area.
Passengers remained on the plane overnight, finally getting off at 6:30 am, once security personnel had returned to their posts. But Rochester airport officials say the passengers were needlessly inconvenienced.
"They wouldn't have had to go through security. They could have come into the airport," airport manager Steve Legve told the Rochester Post-Bulletin. That was confirmed by the DOT investigation.
"There was a complete lack of common sense here," LaHood said. "It's no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated."
LaHood said the Aviation Enforcement Office is considering the appropriate action to take against Mesaba as it completes the investigation, which it expects to conclude within a few weeks.
Mesaba is a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.
