Strange Developing Story: Airline Not Allowed to Rescue 95 People From Turks & Caicos

An Air Canada charted flight arrived in Turks and Caicos yesterday with 95 electricians “s part of a humanitarian aid mission” to rebuild the electrical grid on the islands after Hurricane Irma hit while a category 5 storm.

The plane was scheduled to depart from Providenciales International Airport with 95 Canadians onboard, bringing them back to Canada after their having been stranded on the island. But local officials wouldn’t allow them to leave.

Richard Couët’s daughter Geneviève is one of those stranded. According to Richard, Geneviève was given several reasons why the flight didn’t depart, including because of security issues.

“That’s a little ridiculous,” Richard said. “Let them leave. They’re tourists, they’re going to have to leave anyway and the plane is sitting there empty.”

…Neither the airline nor Global Affairs offered an explanation as to why local authorities would not allow them to board the aircraft.


Grand Turk Coastline, Copyright: tallyclick / 123RF Stock Photo

Passengers waited for 3 hours outside the airport before being sent back to their hotels. The aircraft remains on the ground waiting for the passengers to be allowed to leave.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. Flight scheduled to depart today at 3:00pm to Toronto. It’s been a circus – but typical of the island where we have a 2nd home. 500 power line poles down on just Provo (one of the islands of the Turks & Caicos) so additional help was badly needed.

  2. typo :

    “An Air Canada charted flight arrived in Turks and Caicos yesterday with 95 electricians “************s part of a humanitarian aid mission” to rebuild”

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