South America 2023: A Remembrance Day Flight to Forget

---

A Remembrance Day Flight to Forget

This was an adventure that Stan and I have never before experienced.

Currently traveling in Argentina, we arrived at the Puerto Iguazu airport at 5 pm Friday evening to catch our 90 minute flight to Buenos Aires at 7 pm. We did not know that Buenos Aires was experiencing heavy rain storms: the very same storms that caused Taylor Swift to cancel her November 10th concert in Buenos Aires that evening, and that caused the domestic airport in Buenos Aires to be temporarily closed. As a result, our flight was repeatedly delayed, until finally, six hours later - at 1 am Saturday morning - we boarded the plane that would take us, along with close two hundred plus other very tired passengers, to Buenos Aires.

But it did not - and it is here that the real adventure begins - for along our flight path we encountered that storm, and had to quickly reroute to Cordoba, a city in western Argentina. I recall the moment quite clearly, as the lightning was very evident out the window flashing against a pitch black sky, and the plane was shaking quite violently. I thought we were all going to die.

As you can see, we did not. We arrived Cordoba, refueled and waited on the tarmac for at least another hour until it was safe to fly back to Buenos Aires. We eventually arrived at the international airport 50 km away from where we were supposed to arrive at the domestic, a full 12 hours later than our intended arrival time.

Over the course of the six hour delay in the airport, the Argentinian people were impressively patient, accepting, characteristically kind, and in relatively good humour. But at one point late in the evening there was a form of protest, which consisted of some of the crowd loudly clapping at a departure gate for a few minutes. Someone said it was because the rain had apparently stopped and the airlines were now offering operational problems as an excuse for not completing their flight obligations.

This was the only time there was any indication of angst from the airport crowd, but really it is better described as humourous than threatening, as there was a lot of laughter as well. We think it was because people here just expect that their airline will eventually get them home, not leave them stranded with cancelled flights as is a more common practice in many other countries, Canada included.

It was indeed a day to remember, to realize how fragile life is, to appreciate the value of patience and tolerance in difficult situations, and to very much appreciate getting to live another day. Lightning show and shaking airplane complementary services included with the airfare.

Thank you for your interest in our travels and philosophical musings.

---

Comments

[Marcia Marino]

Whew!
Wow, Bev. I'm sure glad that you are both okay. Sounds like a scary flight! In the US if a flight is interrupted and canceled, it's considered "an act of God", and there will not be any compensation. I hope that you can continue to travel safely!