About 15 years ago, Mr. Rosie and I were on a Delta flight that got delayed for several hours. When the flight finally took off, it ended up making an emergency landing in Little Rock, Arkansas due to mechanical issues. That was frustrating, but the real kicker was when Delta’s agents told us that we were on our own to figure out how to either get to LAX or return home to North Carolina. We ended up having to buy same-day tickets for a totally different airline. It was a very expensive nightmare and I didn’t fly Delta again for almost a decade after that.
A few weeks ago, a group of travelers from Zurich, Switzerland had an airplane ride from hell that beats my story by far. What was supposed to be a nice, relaxing three hour flight from Zurich to Crete turned into an unexpected (and I’d argue unnecessary) 32-hour adventure. And what an adventure it was! They made four stops and still didn’t make it to the island.
Airline travel can be a headache, but it’s not every day that a less than three-hour flight turns into a 32-hour saga that ended in passengers being returned to their original airport.
On May 24, Condor flight DE1234 departed from Zurich, Switzerland, heading for Heraklion, Crete, in Greece with 137 passengers and six crew members. The flight, which is supposed to take just under three hours, experienced “extreme weather conditions,” a Condor airlines representative told PEOPLE.
“With strong winds, take-offs and landings at Heraklion Airport on Crete were only possible to a limited extent,” Condor said in a statement. “Despite several attempts to land in Heraklion, the flight was unfortunately unable to operate as planned and had to be diverted several times including a night stop in Thessaloniki before finally returning to Zurich.”
According to Business Insider, citing data from Flightradar24, the flight circled off the coast of Crete half a dozen times before U-turning to land in Athens.
The outlet reported that the plane made four stops and endured an overnight stay in Thessaloniki during the 32-travel time. The plane also stopped in Athens a second time and in Kos before returning to Zurich.
Condor said that the flight made “several stops,” including a night stop in Thessaloniki.
The airline also said in its statement that, “Refreshments and drinks were served for all guests by the crew in the galley,” however, according to Metro, some passengers complained that they weren’t given many refreshments and some reportedly vomited during one of the attempted approaches to Heraklion.
When asked about the claims, the Condor spokesperson told PEOPLE, “Drinks were served for all guests by the crew in the galley, the hotel accommodation was organized by Condor,” noting that guests can contact customer service for “refund and rebooking options.”
Passengers also claimed they had to pay for their own hotels, per the outlet, and upon landing in Athens for the second time, were given the opportunity to disembark ahead of the final return to Zurich, but without their checked luggage.
Other accounts say that passengers were only offered one cup of water during the 32-hour journey and were not given any food. If true, then that is absolutely unacceptable. Either way, what a saga! It’s sort of baffling why Condor didn’t just tell the pilot to return to Zurich after the second attempt failed. Bad weather sucks, but it happens. You can’t control it. It seemed pretty clear that landing in Crete wasn’t in the cards that day. Those poor passengers! I hope they all were able to finally get to Crete and start their vacations! This is a small consolation, but at least they now have a wild adventure story that they can tell at cocktail parties or use as an ice breaker.
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