EMERGENCY LANDING IN GREENLAND8 min read

THE CENTRAL AMERICAN SERIES PT1

HOME – GREENLAND – BAHAMAS

I was about to start my Central and South America trip and had booked a great deal with WestJet, which would take me from Gatwick, give me a night at Toronto Airport, and then to the Bahamas. Or so I thought.

WHERE IS KANGERLUSSUAQ?

Emergency landing in Greenland

ISSUE

About 5 hours into the flight, the captain announced there was a slight issue and that he would have to make an emergency landing in Greenland. All I could think of was how lucky we were that the issue happened then, while we were flying over this town in the absolute middle of nowhere. There is no other international airport within a three-hour radius. So, who knows what would have happened if the issue had come at another time?

A flight over Greenland is nothing short of breathtaking, and I made a mental note to visit it as soon as possible, as I wouldn’t be counting this stop as a visit on my way to every country in the world.

Check out day one of my trip to Greenland.

REPLACEMENT PLANES

The issue with the plane was considered serious enough that they wouldn’t be able to fly until several engineers arrived from Canada. So, WestJet thought it would be better to send a replacement instead. And, because there were no planes available that were big enough, they then had to send two. This will give you an idea of how much compensation costs airlines, showing that they are better off sending two replacement aeroplanes to pick up passengers who are racking up fees.

Emergency landing in Greenland

DOUBLE THE POPULATION

The delay was about 6 hours, but in all fairness to the airport, they had the canteen stocked full of food in no time. If you know Kangerlussuaq, you will know it’s a small town with only 500 residents, and the airport only has a few flights a day. So, for it to get stocked up on food so quickly in the middle of the night was a pretty good effort. Not to mention, we were almost double the population of the town itself, that night.

WestJet gets a bit of criticism sometimes, but I couldn’t fault them. They were quick to ground the flight, did everything they could to update us via Twitter (more than can be said for every other airline), and issued the compensation without any of us having to lift a finger.

BAHAMAS

Fast forward a day, and I arrived in the Bahamas and checked into an Airbnb, the only affordable way to stay there. Took a walk around Nassau, which is the main town and where all the cruise ships dock. I can tell you that, if I were on one of those, I wouldn’t be bringing home any positive stories about the Bahamas. If you plan on visiting the Bahamas, then get yourself off to the islands, not Nassau!

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you need to make an emergency landing, just make sure you’re flying over the isolated town of Kangerlussuaq.

NEXT UP

Diving with 30 sharks at Stuarts Cove. Click to read.

SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
55/229

This is episode 1 of the Central American Series. Click here to explore more.