United flight to Paris diverts to Newfoundland, passengers forced to sleep on benches and floor

Border agents in Gander, N.L., were unavailable or unwilling to process passengers on a diverted flight from Washington to Paris early Monday.

A United Airlines flight from Washington Dulles to Paris was diverted to Gander, N.L., early Monday due to a mechanical issue. But with no border agents available or willing to process them, more than 240 passengers were forced to spend the night on benches and the small airport's floor until another flight was able to depart 14 hours later.

"Gander International Airport is an official Canadian Airport of Entry with a 24-7 Canada Border Services Agency staff presence, including last night," Gander International Airport CEO Reg Wright told CTVNews.ca. "The airport authority doesn't control the border, so I can't speak to why the passengers were not processed."

In a statement to CTVNews.ca, a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) spokesperson said agents were on duty, but only the flight's crew members were processed and permitted to leave the airport.

"The CBSA can confirm that while the request to clear passengers was made on site, it was not appropriately actioned," they said via email. "CBSA management is following up to ensure appropriate action is taken in a timely manner in the future. The CBSA extends its sincere apologies to the passengers for any inconveniences experienced."

Taylor Cady's children were sleeping when she heard the overhead announcement that their flight to Paris was being diverted. At the airport in Gander, she says they were provided bottles of water at around 2:30 a.m. local time, and breakfast from McDonald's and Tim Hortons arrived after 8 a.m.

"People were sleeping on the cold tile floor," Cady told CTVNews.ca from Gander.

Cady said passengers tried to make the most of things, and there was a pickup game of soccer in the terminal and an impromptu performance on an airport piano.