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Mar 19, 2008 4:37 pm US/Central
DFW Airport Storm Backlog Continues
DFW AIRPORT (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Cleanup from the storms that swept across North Texas continues. Meanwhile, officials at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport are dealing with another kind of 'mess'.
Tuesday's storms forced cancellations and a backlog stretching from Dallas all the way to the east coast and for many passengers the wait continues.
Dreams of a spring break on the beach are lost as thousands remain stranded at DFW Airport. "It's freezing out, I'm chilly and I'm stuck here in my robe," one student said.
American Airlines cancelled some 1000 flights as a result of yesterday's storms. Heavy rain, winds gusts, sometimes up to 100 miles an hour, and the sighting of funnel clouds forced the cancellations and caused a national backlog.
"We almost crashed. The pilot saved our lives. We were the first plane to fly into what they said was a tornado, but I don't know if it was a really bad thunderstorm or something. We were dropping a thousand feet," said passenger Ryan Soulsby.
Soulsby seems thankful to be on solid ground. But the feeling may not last as lines remain long to get a ticket and get through security, only to wait longer in hopes of getting on standby for a coveted seat.
"We're supposed to be in Beaver Creek, Colorado right now and our flight was canceled yesterday," traveler Joe Sicardo explained. "So we came out to the airport twice, once to leave and once to get bags. So we found out we couldn't even get our baggage back."
Some passengers were thankful for the assistance they got. "The airline was pretty good, ya know, trying to accommodate us and get us somewhere. At least we weren't stuck here in the airport all night. They got us to a hotel, which was nice," said passenger Crystal Parrott.
To help with the backlog American Airlines is adding 23 extra flights to its schedule and hopes to get most stranded passengers on their way by the end of the day, but a few people could still be delayed through the end of the week.
American Airlines officials say the safety of its employees and passengers is their first priority but it also canceled flights to prevent passengers from sitting for hours on a plane while waiting to take off.
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