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Passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight from Ghana to New York City found themselves stranded on a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean for roughly 12 hours. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing on the island of Terceira due to an issue with the plane's backup oxygen system.
There were 215 passengers on the flight.
According to Insider, many of the passengers were forced to stay in a "partitioned section" of the airport because they lacked the proper visas to pass through customs.
While waiting for news about a new flight to New York, the passengers were told to drink water from the bathroom faucets and had to wait hours for food. While they were eventually served ham sandwiches, one of the passengers, Nana Asante-Smith, noted in a lengthy Facebook post that many of the passengers were Muslim and could not eat them due to dietary restrictions against pork.
As the passengers begged airport staff for updates, one representative told them not to start "a revolution" and to "be grateful for a second chance at life."
"We were abandoned by Delta and treated like encroaching roaches by airport representatives on Terceira Islands," Asante-Smith wrote.
Kiaundra Eggleston posted videos of passengers trying to get answers from staff members.
After roughly 12 hours stranded in the airport, the passengers boarded a flight to JFK Airport in New York City. Once they arrived in the United States, passengers said the Delta Air Lines representatives weren't helpful with processing their refunds or helping them find out where their luggage was.
Delta Air Lines told Insider that all the passengers have been issued refunds.
Asante-Smith said that she received a $400 voucher but has yet to be issued a refund. In addition, she still has not received her luggage as of Monday (September 11) morning.