New York, December 28: Thousands of travelers trying to get home after the holiday weekend sat bored and bleary-eyed in airports and shivered aboard stuck buses and subway trains Monday, stranded by a blizzard that slammed the Northeast with more than 2 feet of snow.
The storm worked its way up the coast from the Carolinas to Maine with winds up to 129 kph that whirled the snow into deep drifts across streets, railroad tracks and runways.
Planes began landing again Monday evening at two of the New York metropolitan area’s three airports. A Royal Jordanian flight was the first to arrive at JFK, shortly before 7 pm (0000 GMT), said Steve Coleman, of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airports.
A Royal Jordanian flight was the first to arrive at John F Kennedy International Airport, shortly before 7 pm, said Steve Coleman, of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airports.
An Air Canada flight from Toronto landed at LaGuardia Airport at about 7:40 pm (0040 GMT). Just before the plane touched down, the captain came over the loudspeaker and informed passengers that it was the first flight to land at LaGuardia since the blizzard hit.
“Everyone was clapping toward the end,” said Patrick Wacker, 37, who had been stranded in Toronto for a day while trying to get back to New York after visiting his parents in Frankfurt, Germany.
Wacker and other deplaning passengers said there was some turbulence on landing and the plane had to be towed to the gate because it couldn’t get through the snow on the runway.
-Agencies