Yesterday afternoon 590 was boarded at PDX and, a few feet from the gate, the captain announced there was a mechanical problem and that we would return to the gate, which we did. Mechanics and ground staff boarded the flight for what was discussed as a problem with one of the engines -- and, according to NW staff, it was the second day in a row for problems on that particular equipment (757).

When it was determined that the plane would have to be towed to a maintenance repair area, we were kicked off and three poor agents were left to deal with a throng of passengers and no master plan. Some of us made it onto the 230 for MSP and others were literally stranded because of the inability to find alternate flights and/or carriers.

Apart from the logjam the staff handled it fairly well. From what I could tell some of the pax may have had better luck getting rebooked if they had been able to get to an agent in time. Also, some of the pax were reporting that they called NWA and were told they could not rebook by phone while a few others were able to.

It was a mess. A polite mess but nonetheless a mess.