Delta Air Lines gave guests an unexpected look at Whitehorse
Delta Air Lines paid the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport a surprise visit on Saturday night. Their Boeing 757-232(WL) N6713Y had to make a precautionary landing after the emergency oxygen supply dropped below 50%. It had over 200 passengers and crew on board.
Every now and then, receives an emergency landing of note. The 2 most exciting have been the two Korean Boeing 747s that were diverted here on September 11, 2001, and a Nippon Cargo Boeing 747-8F that landed here on May 23rd, 2013, after a fire warning.
On Sunday morning, I got a phone call from a friend telling me that a Delta Air Lines plane was at the gate, and Cathy and I and the dogs were out the door a few minutes later. We arrived at the very quiet airport at 10:25 to find this scene.
A check of the registration on my phone revealed that N6713Y is a Boeing 757-232(WL), and that it had been bound for Anchorage from Minneapolis/St Paul with flight 1088. It landed at Whitehorse at about 8:40 pm on Saturday, and another Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-200 had arrived at 05:53 Sunday from Seattle, picked up the passengers, and left soon after for Anchorage.
A mechanic had been flown up from Seattle to fix the oxygen problem.
We learned that many of the passengers didn’t have passports, so everyone had to spend the night in the in-transit lounge. Air North brought in about 50 pizzas for a late snack, and all the luggage was unloaded. Some people needed medications from the plane, and others wanted strollers for their youngsters. Before they boarded the new plane on Sunday morning, Air North served up a Continental breakfast of fresh muffins and coffee for everyone. All of this was done by airport, Air North, and Canada Border Services Agency employees called in for the emergency.
A broader view of the airport.
At 10:56, everything was stowed, the captain had a look around, and then he boarded the aircraft.
Air North’s de-icing truck is seen at 11:03.
The fuel truck arrived a minute later. Calculating that we had a bit of time to spare, we went back home to get binoculars and my aircraft radio, then returned to the airport.
Almost finished the de-icing, right at noon.
At -23°C, it takes a minute to get things warmed up enough for jet fuel to burn efficiently, so the engine start-ups are quite ugly.
Starting to taxi at 12:07. Having the aircraft radio paid off here, as I was able to hear the control tower close the main runway so the 757 could use it to taxi to the south end of the runway, as the normal taxiway is too small for it.
At 12:15, N6713Y was on its way back to Minneapolis/St Paul, empty.
It was great to soon see a comment on Air North’s Facebook page: “A huge THANK YOU to the gentlemen of Air North when Delta flight 1088 had to divert to Whitehorse on 3-4-17. Your kindness is greatly appreciated. Many of us had been traveling all day and though many were not happy with the situation the Air North guys went out of their way to provide food, water, coffee and a warm place to wait for a new plane.”
After the plane left, we went into town for lunch, and finally got home 3 1/2 hours after we’d left. Seeing Yukoners helping out like that really is a nice way to start a day.
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