Passengers describe travel nightmare after WestJet flight from Costa Rica cancelled

It was a travel nightmare that left more than 100 passengers, including Ottawa residents, stranded in Costa Rica this week.

A WestJet flight that was supposed to take off from Liberia, Costa Rica to Toronto on Saturday instead sat on the tarmac at the airport for five hours before being cancelled altogether.

The incident left dozens without overnight accommodations or food, some people with babies and wheelchairs.

For one Ottawa family, it was a travel nightmare after a much-needed getaway during the holidays.

"My husband is a neurosurgeon and I'm a nurse practitioner. We don't go away very often," said Margarita Sachs, who was travelling with her husband and twin teenagers. "To go on vacation, it was a big deal."

The travel headache started with a routine boarding experience at the Liberia airport for their WestJet flight, but there were red flags as soon as they got on board.

"The pilot informed us that there was a delay due his exact words, a 'passport verification issue' of one of the crew," said Adam Sachs, who says he was stranded in Costa Rica for over 24 hours.

"We sat on the tarmac for two hours to wait for that to be resolved. Meanwhile, the total amount we're on the tarmac and the airplane was about five hours."

Sachs says that was just the beginning of the delays.

"We were notified that there's debris on the runway and we have to wait for the debris to be cleared. We don't know how long that will be," Sachs said.

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

"And then in a bizarre twist, some customs agents or police entered the airplane and informed us that they had to search rows 12 to 14 for security reasons."

Sachs says after hours of waiting on the tarmac without any proper meal service, the family was upset when the pilot came on with another message.

"The pilot got back on and simply said: 'my duty hours are over and I'm afraid that we're not flying tonight,'" he said. "The pilot said: 'you will have to exit the plane, go through customs, and you will be greeted by a WestJet employee.'"

But Sachs says when they got off the plane, there was no representative.

They also couldn't find a nearby hotel and ended up spending US$1,500 a night to stay at a resort that was an hour and a half away from the airport. They also had to pay for transportation there and back, while the airline rebooked their flight for the next day.

"Take notes. record announcements with your phone, and once you come back to Canada for incurred expenses, you can make a claim to the airline and ask them for details and possibly even documents about what really happened. You have the right to know because your rights depend on what the reason was for the delay," said Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passenger Rights, a passenger advocacy group.

WestJet is apologizing for the disruptions and says the initial delay was due to customs issues.

"We sincerely apologize to guests travelling on WS2171 for the inconvenience they experienced on their recent travel journey from Liberia to Toronto. We can confirm that WS2171 was initially delayed on Saturday, December 28 by customs," the airline said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

"After departure, the runway was closed due to unforeseen damage, which required the flight to return to the gate. The runway has now reopened, and a recovery flight has been added, which will depart at 4 p.m. today for guests that were scheduled to fly on WS2171 yesterday."

Lukacs says it's the carrier's responsibility if there are issues with a crew member's documents but not if they are related to local customs controls.

The family was rebooked on a flight to Toronto the day after their original flight, but the second leg of their trip to Ottawa is not until Monday night, causing an even further delay.

"I'd like to be reimbursed for the hotel for the travel and I would like them to put us on a plane with another carrier to get us home earlier," Sachs said.

"Also, if we have to stay in Toronto tomorrow night, I would like them to pay for the hotel in Toronto."