I feel for the many travellers who were stranded and cancelled by various airlines on Sunday Oct 23rd when the private jet broke its landing gear and slipped off the end of the only runway in SJO capable of accepting a jet. Air traffic was halted for the afternoon while they locals figured out how to drain the fuel and move the aircraft out of the way.
Meanwhile at the San Jose airport travellers waited and waited. Those who found out their flights were cancelled, reclaimed their luggage and found overnight hotels and tried to make arrangements for an alternative return flight home. Some gave up for the time being. The airport food counters were jammed by hungry tired travellers. There was a line to use the pay phones. A Cafe Britt representative walked around the terminal waiting areas giving out free samples of coffee liquor to any traveller who wanted a sip. God bless Cafe Britt.
Many if not most flights to the USA were cancelled and rescheduling was non existent. To make matters worse, hurricane Wilma (the b*tch) closed the Miami airport. Some reported that American Airlines was no help at all.
At about 6:00 PM the runway finally opened and a MartinAir took off for somewhere. Shortly thereafter the Delta flight which had been dirverted to Liberia for hours on the ground, arrived and was refitted for the return flight to Atlanta.
We took off at 7 PM for a four hour nonstop flight to Atlanta. Immigration and Customs closes in Atlanta at 1 AM (Eastern Daylight time) so we had to hurry. We landed a few minutes late but they remained open for us. Everybody who had connections was screwed. The worlds busiest airport was dead at 1 AM on Monday morning when we arrived but a few shuttle vans were still around to get me to my car at an off airport parking lot, and others to a local hotel for the night.
My friend Nononsense advises me he is stranded in the Sportsman's Lodge with his sweethearts, (Croc tears) and cannot get back to work in Orlando.
Some DC guys bought tickets on the Sunday (night) Delta flight at the "discounted" price of $600 something, on Sunday just so they could make it back home on time.
But all the above is nothing compared to the plight of 20,000 stranded tourist in Cancun and Merida where they are being bussed. I have seen photos on the net of the mess there.
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