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Fog in Abu Dhabi delayed the take-off of an Etihad Airways flight for 12 hours, according to reports.
Hundreds of passengers landed in San Francisco after 28-hours on board, which they say included half a day in the Middle East without food or accurate flight information, the Telegraph reported.
“They kept telling us that we were going to leave, you know 15 minutes from now, 20 minutes from now, 30 minutes for now, for 12 hours,” passenger Thomas Piani told reporters in San Francisco after finally landing in the city on Saturday evening.
Passengers said the flight crew told them the Abu Dhabi airport was too crowded with other stranded flights to allow them to get off the aircraft to wait.
“Everybody was fighting with each other, and the flight attendants were fighting with us, and we were fighting with the flight attendants,” passenger Venkatesh Pahwa said.
Etihad said in a statement on its website that fog had delayed flights and caused airport congestion.
The airline apologised for travellers’ inconvenience but said the delays were beyond its control.
Etihad did not immediately respond to an after-hours request from The Associated Press for comment on passengers’ complaints about conditions on board during the wait on the tarmac.