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Passengers blocked almost 29 hours:
Blocked on the Tarmac. However, confused, then left: the passengers of the flight Cathay Pacific CX883 between Los Angeles and Hongkong spent nearly 29 hours in the cabin. Nevertheless, One of the longest times ever lived aboard a commercial plane.
Nothing predicted such a marathon. Furthermore, On August 4. Nevertheless, the passengers of the flight Cathay Pacific CX883 embarked in Los Angeles for a direct flight to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Normally, the Pacific crossing lasts just under 15 hours. For example, Entertainment on board, cushions for the neck and dreams of air conditioning: everything seemed together for a smooth arrival.
But while the apparatus flies over Hong Kong. a maximum level weather alert – a “Black Rainstorm Warning”, triggered due to torrential rains – forces the Boeing 777 to go around in passengers blocked almost 29 hours circles, without being able to land. After having exhausted its fuel reserves, the plane is confused … towards Taipei, 800 km north.
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This is where the journey becomes legend. The technical stopover turns out to be endlessly waiting: more than 10 hours blocked in the cabin, without authorization to disembark. Result: nearly 29 hours spent on board, between sky, tarmac and sky again. A quasi-worldwide for a commercial flight. An experience that passengers will keep in mind … and not for foam pillows.
Was it really a record? – Passengers blocked almost 29 hours
On paper. 28 hours and 45 minutes on board without ever setting foot on the ground: a kind of transpacific marathon which would have almost deserved a medal. However, this flight does not pick up the official title of the longest without landing. This remains awarded to Cathay Pacific. already, for the 2014 flight CX831: more passengers blocked almost 29 hours than 30 hours on board, blocked in Anchorage (Alaska) because of execrable weather and technical concerns.
On the absolute longevity side. the record returns to a flight from British Airways in 2016, which remained 35 hours blocked in Kuala Lumpur, including more than 20 on board – but with a partial landing. Which changes everything.
Read too What’s going on in our body during a long-haul flight
Why could they not leave the plane?
This is the question that many passengers arose, between two laps and three sachets of crackers. According to several testimonies, the crew mentioned “insurance restrictions” preventing the landing. In other words. non -stop planned in the initial flight plan, the company could not take the risk of bringing its customers out. A technical detail. certainly, but which makes all the difference when the desire to walk – passengers blocked almost 29 hours or simply to breathe another air than that of the cabin – is pressing.
In short. the flight CX883 does not break an official record, but it checks all the boxes of a chic backpacker nightmare: an airtight cabin, hours of waiting on the tarmac, and the impossibility of opening a window to breathe something other than recycled air. A flight that may not appear in the official aviation annals. but which will be certain in the memory of passengers.
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