macoz

So...what's this mean exactly?

I am on flt 851, today, originally from DTW to ANC.
Upon my arrival at DTW I discover that the flight is now taking me to Canada (and adding about 2 hours to my arrival time in ANC).

The reason (on the NW website) is: "diversion due to accommodating passengers"

Does that mean we have a bigwig on board the flight that needs to be dropped off in Canada (and the airline and pax are accommodating him/her), or does it mean that equipment in Canada is SOL and we are picking up stranded pax?

I am in FC, and won't miss any connections as a result (so it really amounts to an extra two hours of happy hour in the air for me), but I am curious about the reason behind the season.

SchmutzigMSP

Who knows?

Why not wait until after the flight occurs to post anything about it? Be investigative. Learn what you can. Chances are likely you'll be the one to report on this and explain it all to us. As it stands now, all anyone knows is that it is "Delayed awaiting inbound flight crew." as well as a "Diversion/delay due to accommodating passengers."

BearX220

Most likely explanation: a flight from DTW to a Canadian station was cancelled, or a significant number of pax missed it, so your flight is dropping them off en route to ANC.

Vegas Agent

I would concur...this is generally the case if it is a planned diversion. There were likely a significant number of passengers on a cancelled flight to Edmonton (oddly though, there are no DTW-YEG nonstop flights) and there were enough seats on the ANC flight to accomodate all or most of them. I am guessing, with the weather issues yesterday at MSP, there is a group stranded in DTW due to a cancelled DTW-MSP flight and this diversion will accomodate them.

If you see this reason on an unplanned diversion, it is in 95% of the cases due to a medical emergency.

And, not to split hairs but the diversion is only adding about 40 minutes to the flight to ANC, the rest of the delay points back to DTW where the flight originated and was awaiting inbound crew. Total delay estimated at 1:15 from the original scheduled arrival time.

troyintn

I have had some flights like this, were a short flight was cancelled, and they put both sets of pax on one plane and dropped them of enroute.

BobH

That flight had other problems -- note the delay waiting for a crew....

Bob H


Departs: Baltimore/Washington-Int'l, MD ( BWI ) Arrives: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW)
Gate: C11 Gate: A18
Scheduled: 4:32PM Scheduled: 6:13PM
Actual: 5:45PM Actual: 6:59PM
Aircraft: 757-200R Weather: DTW
Status: Arrived Sign up for

Departs: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW) Arrives: Edmonton-Int'l, AB, Canada ( YEG )
Gate: A54 Gate:
Scheduled: 7:27PM Scheduled:
Actual: 8:32PM Estimated: 10:33PM
Aircraft: 757-200 Weather: YEG
Note: Delayed awaiting inbound flight crew.
Status: In Flight Sign up for

Departs: Edmonton-Int'l, AB, Canada ( YEG ) Arrives: Anchorage, AK ( ANC )
Departure Date: July 9 Arrival Date: July 10
Gate: Gate: B10
Scheduled: Scheduled: 10:16PM
Estimated: 11:13PM Estimated: 12:51AM
Aircraft: 757-200 Weather: ANC
Note: Diversion/delay due to accommodating passengers.

CaptainMiles

With a stop in Canada, does the arrival in ANC get treated as an inbound international flight?

Vegas Agent

I specifically mentioned the crew delay at DTW. The BWI-DTW delay didn't affect the rest of the segments as there was an aircraft change (change of gauge) at DTW.

tev9999

I took this flight last week and brought my passport - just in case something strange happened or I could take a bump via Canada or something. We went straight to ANC though.

RobOnLI

Excellent question.

My hunch is that they put this on the books as a diversion for a reason. I suspect that if this was handled as a diversion where only people got OFF the plane and no one got ON, ANC and the FAA aren't likely to make a big stink of it. But who knows?! Also, most people taking this flight more than likly did not bring their passports as they weren't expecting an unexpected stopover in Canada.

-RM

YVR Cockroach

I'm not too sure about this lack of ICE clearance even. AC tried a one-directional stop on the YVR-SYD route at HNL (it was n/s the other way) and if the doors were opened, clearance at HNL was required even though the a/c was going to SYD or YVR (fishing expedition for ICE?) Too much of hassle so the flight was dropped. There was/is also an AS U.S. west coast-YVR-ANC flight. Seems AS neglected to tell pax that they'd need to clear U.S. immigration at SEA or ANC (or something like that) even if they got on the place at one of the other places and did not get off the plane at YVR.

It'd be nice to get a 1st hand report.

golf4000

Due to the extreme heat this past week, if the flight was going to go without a stop it would have need to bump 40 passengers due to it being weight critical. The other option was to take a full load of passengers and divert for a refueling stop in Canada and then continue on to ANC. They took option 2, which is why it was classified as “accommodating passengers” (the 40 they would have had to bump in DTW).

YVR Cockroach

OIC. As long as the a/c doors are not opened at YEG, no ICE clearance is required at ANC.

RobOnLI

Sure, but there is a big difference between *scheduled* stop and *diversion*. In your scheduled stop scenario, I'd imagine AC was selling seats on the HNL-SYD segment, thus allowing passengers onto the plane. Even if they were not and it was purely a petrol stop, I could see ICE being concerned.

In a diversion situation, the passengers are not aware of the diversion beforehand (usually). Without having advanced notice that passengers will suddenly be stopping in a foreign country and will require passports to continue their journey to ANC, there's no way ICE has any way to control the situation. NW and the Canadian Government can't let people on or off the plane but that's about it.

Even though we now know the diversion was due to weight & fuel issues, the same thing could be true for a medical emergency. A DTW-ANC flight could stop anywhere in Canada for a medical emergency...which, btw, is also "accommodating passengers". The passengers who don't get off the plane are not processed as international travelers when they get to ANC.

-RM

jman4l

If the plane stopped in YEG and picked up passengers, wouldn't these passengers already go theough customs/immigration in YEG and be in a sterile area(as far as the US goes). I don't see an issue with stopping in a Canadian airport that pre-clears US Customs/Immigration.