'Like we were in a Hallmark movie': 4 strangers drive to Winnipeg together after their flight was cancelled due to fog

After their flight to Winnipeg was cancelled due to intense fog, four strangers banded together to forge their way home in time for Christmas, not by plane, but by rental car.

On Friday morning, a plane circled above Winnipeg, Man., trying to find a pathway to the ground through intense fog. Finally, the captain had to make the announcement: it was impossible to land.

As the plane wheeled around to head back to the airport in Minneapolis, many passengers started to wonder how they were going to make it home for Christmas.

For four strangers on the plane, the answer would come in the form of one rental car and a leap of faith.

“It felt a little bit like we were in a Hallmark movie,” Alison Hall told CTV News Channel.

Hall, who is a correspondent and producer for CBS's Inside Edition, was on her second flight of the day when the plane turned around instead of landing in Winnipeg. She had taken off from her home in New York, flown to Minneapolis, and then caught her connecting flight to fly home to family in Winnipeg, where she is originally from.

“I was very excited to get home for the holidays for a white Christmas,” she told CTV News Channel. “I have just a few days with my family over the Christmas holidays.”

When the plane returned to Minneapolis, passengers were told to stay near the gate, and that the plane would take off again as soon as the fog cleared.