Delta fliers on island after diversion told to be ‘grateful’ plane didn’t crash

Passengers on board a Delta flight to New York were diverted to a Portuguese island where they say they were stuck in a secluded part of the airport for 12 hours and had to beg for food, as airline representatives warned them not to start “a revolution.”

The flight was carrying 200 people flying from Ghana to New York on Flight 157 Friday when it experienced a “mechanical issue with a backup oxygen system” and diverted to the Lajes Airport, a spokesperson for Delta told Business Insider.

“We were abandoned by Delta and treated like encroaching roaches by airport representatives on Terceira Islands,” passenger Nana Asante-Smith wrote on Facebook, saying they had a “reckless disregard for human life and well-being.”

At the airport, Asante-Smith said, the passengers were brought to a “partitioned section” because the Ghanan citizens did not have the requisite visas to enter Portugal.

She told Business Insider they arrived at around 6 a.m., but the crew were soon shuttled away to a hotel – while the passengers were told to remain and contact Delta for more information.

“We were trying to reach out to Delta during this time, and ascertain what exactly was going on, to no avail,” said Asante-Smith, who was in Ghana with family and friends to celebrate her marriage.

She said airport representatives told them they would be given a meal, and that a plane from Boston would arrive in several hours to pick them up.

But at around 11:30 a.m., she wrote on Facebook, “we learned that we would no longer be fed, because according to an airport representative, Delta had informed them that we had already eaten in advance of our landing, a little before 6 a.m.

“We had no other access to food.”

Asante-Smith said she and her fellow passengers were left “befuddled” by the response, with one elderly man asking a representative if he could get a water bottle.

He was told in response that he and the other passengers could simply drink water from the bathroom faucets, Asante-Smith claimed, but none of them had cups and only a few had water bottles.

After a while, she said, a small cafe in the corner opened up – allowing those with credit cards to purchase some food.

Shortly after that, after more “begging and pleading,” they were given ham sandwiches, juice boxes and crackers, Asante-Smith said.

“Which is interesting, because anyone who is intimately familiar with West Africa or our Muslim brothers and sisters know that many people have dietary restrictions with eating pork,” she told Insider.

Meanwhile, she said, passengers were left scrambling for information.

She said some members of her travel group received messages from Delta airline representatives that seemed to be copied and pasted, while others were told a rescue plane was coming.

“Many of us were eagerly looking out the window to see if a Delta plane was landing,” she said.

While they waited, Asante-Smith described on Facebook how some people, “the elderly, pregnant women, children, became restless, frustrated and confused.”

And when they asked for more information from staffers at the airport, a woman told them they shouldn’t “start a revolution” and said they should be “grateful at a second chance at life,” according to a video posted online by Kiaundra Eggleston.

“This female rep told us we should be grateful that they allowed us to be here, and our plane didn’t crash in the sea,” she tweeted.

Finally, at around 6 p.m., a flight finally arrived at the Lajes Airport and brought them to John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The passengers, many of whom were still frustrated, then tried to bring their complaints to Delta representatives in New York, Asante-Smith said, but were told the airline was overwhelmed.

Ghanaian rapper Sakordie also wrote on X that he was on the flight, and missed performing at an event in Detroit due to the diversion.

“It was unfortunate, but I know these things happen so I wasn’t trippin’ even though they communicated poorly and didn’t have the courtesy to update us on exactly what was happening,” he wrote.

“This isn’t new with this airline, especially from this part of the world (Africa), they keep sending these weak old flights (business class almost same as economy) to pick us up knowing very well they are not safe, but still risk lives,” he added.

In a statement to Business Insider, a Delta spokesperson said the 215 passengers were given meals and waited for nearly 12 hours for another aircraft to arrive from Lisbon.

The spokesperson also said the passengers’ bags were sent on their original aircraft to JFK, as the second plane only had one hour landing time in Terceira.

When asked about claims the Delta personnel in New York were overwhelmed, the spokesperson pointed to poor weather conditions on the East Coast, which he said caused airline staff to be swamped with requests.

He added that customers were provided refunds.

The Post has also reached out to Delta Air Lines for comment.

Asante-Smith, however, said that while she received a $400 voucher and an email about a full ticket refund, she has yet to receive the money.

She added that she still has not received her bags, as of Monday morning.