Travelers on a Cancun-to-London flight faced a long delay after two passengers smoked in the airplane lavatories, violating strict no-smoking rules. The captain warned the passengers that the flight would be diverted if the smoking continued.
When the warnings were ignored, the plane was diverted to Bangor International Airport in Maine on the evening of July 8. The smokers were removed, but the original flight crew had reached their maximum duty hours and couldn’t continue.
Passengers waited on board for several hours and were then moved to a room in the military section of the airport. They stayed there for more than 15 hours while a new crew was flown in from the UK.
The relief flight departed the next day, safely returning passengers to London. Despite the happy ending, the long wait and uncertainty made the experience very stressful.
