NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Certain American Airlines flights into the Nashville airport were sitting in the tarmac a lot longer than expected... up to almost 7 hours.
"We eventually get in at around 2:30, and we were sitting in that tarmac until probably about 8:30," Maddox Gates, a passenger, said.
Gates said they were flying in from the LaGuardia airport in New York and were originally told it would only be an hour or two.
However, things did not go according to plan.
"It really wasn't on the staff, the flight crew and the staff, they did everything they could," Gates said.
So then, what happened?
De-icing trucks ran out of fuel.
Not too big of a deal, but then — the valve to refill the de-icing truck froze over, and it couldn't be re-fueled — and American Airline's planes can't depart without de-icing first, according to passenger Hallie Barnwell.
Barnwell sent a text to her family about five hours in talking about the pilot, who said he had been flying for 18 years and never had this happen.
It got worse.
A line of flights in front of their airline was keeping them from moving. The second plan was to get some air stairs to connect to the plane to get the passengers out, however, there was no firm time confirmed as to when the steps would come.
Also, as they were trying to tow the first plane out of the way after dismissing its passengers, the tow bar used to tow the planes broke.
"He (the pilot) also called it a 'comedy of airs'...we were all using comedic relief in the end," Barnwell said. "Everyone was very patient."
There are still so many families in East Tennessee hurting following the floods from Hurricane Helene in September. That made this year's running of the Santa Train extra special for many families in the northeast part of the state. This special Santa Express has been making an annual run in part of Appalachia for over 80 years.
-Lelan Statom
