Plane stranded on tarmac for 10 hours
20 March 2008Air passengers in France saw their travel insurance to cover flight delays come in particularly useful when a plane was stuck on a runway for almost ten hours.
An aircraft belonging to the Air France-KLM group, which was due to leave Paris Charles de Gaulle airport for Miami, suffered the massive delay following a fuel leak.
Problems were compounded when the pilots had difficulty starting the engines, airline spokesman Nicolas Petteau told Bloomberg.
"It's very unusual to have consecutive incidents like that,'' he added.
The flight was scheduled to leave at 10:45 local time but eventually departed at 20:34.
People on board were not allowed to leave the plane because it would have led to the necessary safety measures taking even longer, Mr Petteau explained.
Snacks and meals were provided to the passengers, who were reportedly promised €400-€600 (£310-£467) in compensation.
Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, which is the main base of Air France, is the second busiest airport in Europe after London Heathrow.