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A United Airlines plane is reported to have taxied so long that it ran out of fuel ahead of its flight earlier this week.
United Airlines Boeing 737-900ER was scheduled to fly out of Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday (August 22)), but was short on gas after taxiing for six hours, leading to the flight eventually getting canceled, Aviation A2Z reports.
Several passengers on board shared their experiences on social media as the incident took place, including New York Times reporter Hiroko Tabuchi, who wrote, "You can't make this up. my United flight out of Newark taxied on the tarmac for more than 6 hours and now **no longer has enough fuel** to get to Denver -- so we are taxiing back to the terminal," in an apparent since-deleted tweet re-quoted by the Twitter account @FL360aero.
The plane was initially delayed due to inclement weather, which included lightning and thunderstorms, and taxied for about three hours before going back to the gate for the first time.
Passengers were reportedly told, “if you really need to go to the bathroom or stretch your legs, go ahead, but we really prefer you don’t, and we won’t hesitate to leave you behind," after the plane returned to the gate, according to Aviation A2Z.
The plane then taxied "for the next few hours" before an announcement was made by the captain that air traffic control gave a longer flight path to Denver in order to avoid lingering storms and the plane wouldn't have enough fuel needed to make the extended trip.
Passengers were later notified that the flight had been canceled through the United Airlines app after a lengthy delay, but crew members were reportedly not made aware of the change when they asked passengers to re-board the aircraft and taxi on the tarmac for an additional two hours.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the average delay time for all U.S. flights on Monday was 37 minutes, with 92% caused by weather, 5% due to volume and 3% linked to staffing issues, according to the India Times.