An NW EHAM - KSEA flight had to divert because of fog to a field without customs facilities and the pax were confined to the a/c for some 8-9 hours with inop toilets and next to no food and water.
Of course HS had had several hours before landing to peruse the pax list. But I guess that's what happens when your state votes for Kerry
From Seattle Times:
Passengers relieved to reach Sea-Tac
When Northwest Airlines Flight 33 touched down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 6:26 a.m. yesterday, passengers broke into applause, relieved that a marathon journey from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, was finally over.
"People clapped quite a bit when we landed," said John Castle, who was stuck on the plane for nearly 24 hours, 14 of them at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake.
The flight, originally scheduled to arrive in Seattle at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, encountered heavy fog; with fuel running low, the pilot turned the plane around and landed in Moses Lake.
The 300-plus people on board had to stay on the plane until approximately 10 p.m. because no U.S. Customs agents were at the airport. Passengers then had to wait for a new crew to arrive from Minneapolis because the original crew had exceeded the number of hours it could work under federal law.
Passengers, who were allowed into a secure area of the airport late Tuesday, reboarded the plane at 2:30 a.m., Castle said. But the flight was delayed for almost two more hours because crew members couldn't close one of the plane's doors, he said.
CNN:
Passengers describe extra 18 hours on plane