New York – Blizzard Forces World’s Largest Passenger Jet To Land At Small NY Airport

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    A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380, diverted from John F. Kennedy Airport during a winter storm, is shown on the runway after landing at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York, U.S., January 4, 2018.   Courtesy of Stewart Airport/Handout via REUTERSNew York – A massive winter storm forced the world’s largest passenger airplane to divert to a small New York airport on Thursday after heavy winds and whiteout conditions closed runways at its intended destination John F. Kennedy International Airport.

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    The 325 passengers aboard Singapore Airlines Flight 26 from Frankfurt, Germany, found themselves on a snowy runway around 1pm local time for more than three hours at humble Stewart International, about 128km north of JFK, CNBC reported.

    The plane was an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet.

    The runway was long enough for the world’s largest passenger plane, but the gates were too small for it. Passengers took a portable stairwell onto the tarmac and walked into the airport building. Then the airline provided ground transportation.

    Passengers were leaving the plane after 5pm local time using outdoor stairs, according to Manoel Gerlach, a passenger aboard the plane.

    The sight of the giant plane, whose 262-foot wingspan is more than double that of a Boeing 737, was unusual for the airport, which is dwarfed by JFK. In 2016, the airport handled 137,000 passengers. JFK, in comparison, received 29 million, according to the Department of Transportation.

    The flight was one of dozens that were diverted as powerful winds and heavy snow closed runways at some of the busiest airports along the East Coast, including several international long-haul flights.

    Plane-tracking site FlightAware said there were at least 96 diversions due to the storm. More than 3,600 flights were canceled, and airlines have cancelled hundreds more on Friday.
    A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380, diverted from John F. Kennedy Airport during a winter storm, is shown on the runway after landing at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York, U.S., January 4, 2018.   Courtesy of Stewart Airport/Handout


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    13 Comments
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    PaulinSaudi
    PaulinSaudi
    6 years ago

    Remember when Americans used to make the biggest airplanes?

    savtat
    savtat
    6 years ago

    You have to admire the cooperation that makes safe landing possible.

    PaulinSaudi
    PaulinSaudi
    6 years ago

    #4 Well I could be in Brooklyn if there is some sort of Truman Show thing going on.

    triumphinwhitehouse
    triumphinwhitehouse
    6 years ago

    how can we get more global warming to happen?

    Pragmatist
    Pragmatist
    6 years ago

    This airport may not have many passengers but there are only three civilian airports in the USA with longer runways.

    yonasonw
    Member
    yonasonw
    6 years ago

    Humble Stewart? It’s the former Stewart Air Force Base, and has runways capable of handling anything that flies.

    6 years ago

    Does Stewart Field have Immigration and Customs to handle foreign airlines landing there?

    Tsfat-Breslover-Kotzker
    Tsfat-Breslover-Kotzker
    6 years ago

    Stewart was built as an Air Force base that had C5A Galaxy cargo planes taking off and landing. The A380 is a big plane, but Stewart Airport has a really big runway.