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United States

Rochester, Minn.

Passengers stranded: Forty-seven passengers and three crew members were trapped overnight in a smelly, cramped plane on the tarmac in Rochester, Minn. Continental Express Flight 2816 left Houston Friday evening, headed for Minneapolis–St. Paul. But the flight was diverted to Rochester, Minn., where passengers were inexplicably kept onboard for more than six hours, given no refreshments, and forced to endure the stench from the plane’s over-capacity toilet. “This was a sardine can,” said passenger Link Christin. “It was a nightmare.” Airline and airport officials traded blame for the foul-up. Congress is now considering legislation that would require airlines to let passengers off planes stuck on runways for three hours. Since 2007, about 200,000 passengers have been trapped on about 3,000 planes for three hours or more.

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