WILLEMSTAD - Passengers on Winair flight 804 from Curaçao to Sint Maarten were already taxiing towards the runway when the aircraft stopped and everyone had to disembark. Ultimately, problems with air traffic control in San Juan, Puerto Rico, turned out to be the cause of the issue.
A bus picked up the passengers and brought them back to the terminal. Three flights of American aircraft heading to Miami also had to wait before departure.
The aircraft eventually departed around 4:00 PM and is expected to land shortly after 6:00 PM in Sint Maarten.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico has been experiencing power outages and blackouts for weeks. This led to issues with air traffic control last night. A JetBlue pilot also returned to the gate today. According to El Nuevo Dia, a newspaper in Puerto Rico, this was due to problems with an internal FAA system.
Since yesterday, San Juan has also faced flight disruptions due to weather conditions in the southeastern United States. Today, there were approximately 27 incoming or outgoing flights affected by cancellations or delays.