By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THREE flights bound for Miami were diverted to New Providence on Monday due to severe weather at the destination, leaving nearly 200 passengers stranded for hours.

Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) marketing and commercial development vice president Jan Knowles said the diversions involved flights from St Croix, Mexico, and Santiago and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

“We began seeing diversions at 3.45pm,” Ms Knowles told The Tribune yesterday. “The last diverted flight left LPIA at 1.20am this morning.” She added that one relief flight from Miami was arranged to bring in a new crew after some crews exceeded their permitted working hours.

American news station Local 10 reported that passengers on American Airlines Flight 1917, diverted to Nassau, endured hours stuck on the tarmac without air conditioning. Some reportedly fainted from the heat. The flight, originally due to land in Miami before 4pm Monday, did not arrive until about 1.30am Tuesday.

Video footage shared with the station showed large crowds of passengers waiting inside Lynden Pindling International Airport.

Ms Knowles said she was not aware of any medical emergencies at the airport in connection with the diversions.