Dozens of Shabbat-observant passengers found themselves stuck in London just hours before candle lighting on Friday after an Israir flight bound for Tel Aviv was canceled following an accident on the tarmac at London Luton Airport.
Israir Flight 116 was scheduled to depart Luton at 5 p.m. British time on Thursday evening and land at Ben Gurion Airport shortly after midnight. The flight never took off. An airport service vehicle assigned to tow the aircraft ahead of departure struck the plane during the maneuver, causing damage severe enough to ground the aircraft entirely.
According to Israir, this marks the third such towing accident at Luton Airport, and to the airline's knowledge, none of the previous incidents has been followed by a formal investigation from airport management.
Once the area around the damaged aircraft was cleared, passengers were taken off the plane and brought back to the terminal, where they waited to collect their luggage. Israir arranged hotel rooms and ground transportation for those affected, and told passengers who preferred to make their own accommodation arrangements that they would be reimbursed for lodging, transportation, and food costs in line with company policy.
The airline said it has been working since the incident with airport authorities and other relevant parties to put together a rescue flight and get passengers back to Israel as quickly as possible. For the Shabbat-observant travelers among them, now unable to fly until after Shabbat ends, that means remaining in England until a return flight on Sunday.
Israir apologized to passengers for what it described as disruption caused by an event outside the company's control, stressing that passenger safety remains its top priority.
