What is the longest anyone has had to wait at an airport and why?

toughynutter

Off the top of my head There was a pretty long delay for many israeli's at Entebbe airport do to a Hijacking June 28 to July 4 early am "On June 27, 1976, ... Soon after the 12:30 p.m. takeoff, the flight was hijacked by two Palestinians ... who commandeered the flight, diverting it to Benghazi, Libya. There it was held on the ground for seven hours for refueling, during which time a female hostage was released. The plane left Benghazi, and at 3:15 it arrived at Entebbe Airport (now known as Entebbe International Airport) in Uganda. At Entebbe, the four hijackers were joined by three additional terrorists, supported by the pro-Palestinian forces of Uganda's President, Idi Amin. ... They demanded the release of 40 Palestinians held in Israel and 13 other detainees imprisoned in Kenya, France, Switzerland, and Germany – and if these demands were not met, they threatened to begin killing hostages on July 1. ... On the July 1 deadline the government of Israel offered to negotiate with the hijackers in order to extend the deadline to July 4. On July 3, the Israeli cabinet approved a rescue mission" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Entebbe But there does appear to be a longer Stand off of nearly 2 weeks "1981: A Pakistan International Airlines jet is hijacked and taken to Kabul, where one passenger is killed before the plane flies on to Damascus; the hostages are finally released after 13 days when the Pakistani Government agrees to free fifty political prisoners" http://www.americandefenseforces.com/hijackings.htm Mar 20 07, 11:21 PM

star_gazer

This guy has been stuck in the airport since 1988! http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0621/p11s02-almo.html Mar 21 07, 4:17 AM

gmackematix

Stargazer's reference to the sad tale of Mehran Karimi Nasseri gets a grounded yay! This poor man has indeed been trapped in diplomatic limbo at Charles de Gaulle airport since 1988. He occasionally goes to the terminal doors to breathe in air that wafts in but he cannot legally go through them. This Iranian's papers were stolen and he arrived from London to France without a passport. Having legally arrived as a refugee he cannot be expelled and without the papers cannot set foot on French turf. Here is a site with a picture of the wretch who is understandably starting to go a little insane: http://www.sattlers.org/mickey/culture/reality/merhan-nasseri/stranded.html Mar 22 07, 6:05 PM