Delta Air Lines
Passengers on a Delta flight from Richmond Virginia to Boston, Massachusetts, were forced to deplane and wait at the airport for more than three hours when the aircraft allegedly experienced a fuel leak. In this photo, a Delta Airlines ground crew employee finishes the push-back of an outbound flight at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, Aug, 17, 2005. Getty Images/ PAUL J.RICHARDS

Passengers on a Delta flight from Richmond Virginia to Boston, Massachusetts, were forced to deplane and wait at the airport for more than three hours when the aircraft allegedly experienced a fuel leak.

One of the passengers with the Twitter handle @LeggedThree, who was on the plane when the incident happened took to social media to share his experience and demand updates from Delta. (The user deleted the stream of tweets addressed to Delta, regarding the incident, since. IBT has reached out to the user for a comment.)

He said that Delta flight 6306 was supposed to depart from Richmond International Airport at 5:47 p.m. EDT. Passengers had boarded the flight when one of them yelled “fuel leak” and all the passengers deplaned the flight despite no official confirmation or announcement from the captain of the plane.

“Your pilot didn’t announce anything, some guy up front just shouted ‘FUEL LEAK?!?’ Popped up and everyone followed. Suprise wasn’t a stampede,” the user wrote, adding that the passengers who were forced to wait at the airport had to rely on the guy collecting fuel, dripping from their plane, in a bucket on the tarmac for updates on how long it would take for the issue to get resolved.

Delta replied to the user’s stream of messages each time with no definitive reply. In one of the initial replies, the company tweeted, “Yikes... I do see the updated information on my end as per the mechanical issue causing this delay. I apologize profusely. I know delays are never fun, but I am glad to hear they are working on it as your safety is our number one priority.”

When the user expressed outrage at the lack of updates and information provided by the airport staff and the flight officials regarding the departure time, Delta tweeted: “I understand your frustration with the delay. The gate agents should be making announcements with any updates. I am trying to see if I can get more information regarding the estimated departure.”

At one point, Delta even suggests the user to continue the conversation via direct message instead of a public platform, which he/she refuses to do.

Finally @LeggedThree asked whether he or she could avail a refund of the tickets.

“I'm sorry but I cannot offer you a refund on a ticket you are using. I can offer each of you a $50 credit voucher, good for one year from today for future travel,” Delta replied.

It is not clear if mechanical issue on the plane was fixed and if the passengers got back on the same aircraft or they were given a replacement plane. The flight finally departed at 9:11 p.m. EDT and reached Boston at 10:48 p.m. EDT.

Delta has been grappling with a number of controversies in the recent past. On April 8, 146 passengers onboard a Delta flight were evacuated on the tarmac via slides and over-wing exits on Denver International Airport, after the cabin started to fill with smoke after the flight landed.

Some of the passengers sustained minor injuries during the evacuation and one person was transported to the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, according to Denver Health.

RELATED STORIES