French Louis Vuitton team stuck in Siberia in -20C for 2 days after Air France emergency landing
An Air France flight from Paris to Shanghai has been stuck in the Russian city of Irkutsk for two days, giving lightly-clothed passengers – with a Louis Vuitton team among them – first-hand experience of the Siberian weather.
The unlucky passengers of the Air France Boeing-777 found themselves in the Siberian city of Irkutsk on Sunday, when the plane made an emergency landing there due to eruption of smoke in cabin. A team of Louis Vuitton employees was among the passengers, who shared their Siberian experiences on social media.
While no one was hurt during the incident, the passengers were not quite ready to meet the Siberian weather, sporting only light clothing. The temperatures in Irkutsk are now about minus 10 degrees Celsius during the daytime, and fall even lower at night reaching nearly minus 20 degrees.
The stranded people were accommodated at local hotels, where they were driven by buses with lights-flashing police escort. The passengers, however, were not allowed to leave the compounds, however, as they had no Russian visas.
The company decided to send a substitute aircraft to take the passenger to their destination. The second plane, however, malfunctioned as well, experiencing issues with its hydraulics systems shortly before take-off. The passengers ultimately had to disembark from the plane and return back to the hotels.
“We spent all the night in the plane, no sleep, and then we had to go back here and now we are totally [tired],” a passenger said, adding that they were “very disappointed” with the whole endeavor.
While mechanics tinkered with the two grounded planes, the company decided to send in the next aircraft to pick up the misfortunate passengers. The third plane proved to be lucky, and the passengers finally left Irkutsk for Shanghai early on Tuesday.
Footage from the scene shows passengers heading for the plane on the chilly Siberian morning. Many waved goodbye to reporters and police, who escorted them to the airport for the second time. They also expressed wishes to meet again in less harsh weather conditions – in Europe, naturally.
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