ORLANDO, Fla. (LEX 18) — Several members of Big Blue Nation tell LEX 18 that their flight to Orlando to watch the Wildcats in the Citrus Bowl ran into some trouble this morning at Orlando Sanford International Airport.
Allegiant Airlines tweeted about 12:20 p.m. that the issue had been resolved, but only after more than an hour delay.
Thank you for your patience, our operations team has advised that the aircraft has deplaned. Thank you for reaching out. -Bree
— Allegiant (@Allegiant) January 1, 2019
Allegiant Airlines flight 2163 arrived on time at 10:50 a.m., but passengers said they then were stuck on the tarmac.
Among those on the delayed flight was Lexington chef Samantha Fore, owner of .Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites.
Hahahaha I’ve been stuck in an @Allegiant plane for over an hour and a half. Hi. I have somewhere I need to be. #CitrusNightmare
— Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites (@tuktuklex) January 1, 2019
Lifelong True Blue Fans Thad West and Ellie Steder both had to work New Year’s Eve, so an early morning flight from Lexington to Orlando was perfect for them.
“So we landed, and were waiting to get off the plane, and they tell us that they can’t open the doors,” said Steder. “It was pretty frustrating because I have a lot of friends at the game now, so they were all calling me like, ‘where are you?'”
After about an hour, the power issue was resolved. The plane’s doors opened and fans went straight to the Citrus Bowl. Steder and West were picked up by their fathers and sat with the family during the game.
West said he was glad to spend that time with his father.
“He’s really pumped to be back here, and the possibility of a 10 win season. He’s excited too, and so it’s cool to be able to share that with him,” he said.