BR271D, a replacement flight for a cancelled BR271, was scheduled to land in MNL around 7pm local time. However, NAIA rejected the aircraft due to lack of space, which forced the flight to be diverted to CRK(Clark-Angeles City). In CRK, BR was able to refuel the aircraft and wait for a slot to open up for them. However, after 5 hours of waiting, it became clear that they would not make MNL with enough time for the crew to work a turnaround. The pax were not able to disembark as the CRK immigration officers had finished for the day(this was around 1am already). BR made the decision to return to TPE, where another flight could be arranged.
Onboard, passengers were angered by the news. The ground staff at CRK, which attempted to explain over the PA, were drowned out in shouting, jeering, and even a threat to "burn this place down". FAs, who at this point had worked close to 10 hours without any rest, became irritated too as their announcements were drowned out. The flight did return to TPE, where arrangements were made for a return to MNL the following day on scheduled flights. BR cancelled all remaining extra flights due to "operational issues and difficulties"(from BRs crew database)
As for the crew:
They actually worked beyond what was allowed. BR immediately filed a report with TFAU, TPU, EVA Air Union, and MoL regarding the extended work day.
This flight has now made the news:
One flight from Taiwan scheduled for Friday, August 17, was canceled. The carrier, Eva Air, booked hotels stays for the passengers, telling them to come back early on Saturday morning for updates. They finally boarded at 4:30 pm, but the plane was unable to land in Manila. It flew around Manila, waiting to land for a couple hours, and was then rerouted to another airport 110 kilometers away because it needed fuel. The poor passengers waited at that airport for another five hours, before they flew again, not to Manila, but back to Taipei. This means they had been on the plane for around 10 hours, but never got to their destination.
and videos are on social media.
Singapore Airlines praised for smooth handling of horrific plane delay | The Independent
BR has no comment.