Airline Passengers Headed to Minneapolis Stranded at Hector International

The Winter Storm In Minnesota Causes Six Flights to Land At The Hector International Airport

FARGO, N.D. — Monday night’s winter storm in Minnesota caused six different flights to take an unexpected stop in Fargo at Hector International Airport.

While two flights were able to head off Monday night, passengers on the other flights were forced to stay overnight in Fargo and depart Tuesday morning.

A line this long is a sight rarely seen at Hector International Airport.

But for all 534 passengers on flights from LA, Seattle, Winnipeg, and Denver, Fargo was never part of the plan.

The stormy weather caused their planes to land, which isn’t uncommon this time of the year, but the number of people getting off the flights is something the airport isn’t used to.

“It’s not common for this number of passengers to be stranded here,” said Executive Director Shawn Dobberstein. “Typically they get the flight going but once and awhile, crews will time out or the condition of the airport is such that they’re not able to operate.”

Passengers were given hotel vouchers and got their flights rebooked, however, after hours of waiting, people just wanted to board their plane.

“My whole thing is at this point, I just want to get home, I just want to get back to Cleveland,” passenger Jennifer Bline said.

“I’m supposed to be at work right now,” passenger Courtney Kotewa said. “Of course I’ve been gone for 4-5 days so I was just anxious to get home.”

Although all of the passengers flights were rebooked, this long line worried many passengers that they wouldn’t make their flight.

“I don’t know if we’ll make it through this line,” Bline said.

However, airport staff reassured riders that they wouldn’t takeoff until everyone boarded the plane.

“All of the passengers were very understanding and they could see the situation that was happening down in Minneapolis,” Dobberstein said. “They knew why they were stranded here and as the airline provided information, it seemed to kind of calm them.”