Screams and sobs as packed passenger plane was stuck for HOURS on runway after fog shuttered its original destination

Published: 04:15, 18 April 2026 | Updated: 04:15, 18 April 2026 Frustrated travelers moaned as they were forced to wait inside a passenger plane on the tarmac for hours after fog prevented the flight from landing at its planned destination.  WestJet flight WS2695 was diverted on Thursday morning en route to Toronto Pearson Airport from Cancun International Airport, according to a spokesperson for WestJet.  Tremendous fog forced the Boeing 737 jet to divert to the Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF) in Ontario at 1.17 am local time.  However, since officials had not prepared for the flight, passengers were stuck on the tarmac for about eight hours while customs arrangements were made.  Since the flight was international, passengers were stuck in the aircraft until customs personnel arrived.  They were then forced off the plane to go through customs, boarded once again and finally took off for Toronto.  Passengers eventually landed at 10.10 am local time. The flight from Cancun to Toronto is typically about a four-hour flight, but travelers on WS2695 endured a 14-hour ordeal.  Those on the flight told the Canadian news outlet CTV News that passengers were chanting 'let us off' as children cried.  Toronto Pearson Airport was engulfed in fog on Thursday morning, resulting in a flight detour for passengers coming back from Cancun  Flight Aware captured the plane's bizarre route as it was diverted to Ontario en route to Toronto  WestJet confirmed the diversion in a statement, explaining that passengers had to wait for customs officials since the flight was international. Pictured above is a file photo of a WestJet Boeing 787 jet  Trevor Lester told the outlet that the pilot came on the intercom as the flight was approaching Toronto to notify them of the detour.  'We were approaching the Toronto airport, very foggy. And all of a sudden we're doing left and right turns and going around the airport,' he added.  He explained that the detour was particularly rough for families traveling with children.  'In the middle of the night, they were crying. You know, we felt so much empathy for these kids,' Lester said.  He added in a Facebook post that WestJet had been 'horrific' with little communication.   Passengers told CTV that they were not given food while they waited on the tarmac, but had access to water.  Toronto was under a yellow advisory for fog on Thursday night, which is a low-level alert for potentially hazardous weather.  Flights from Cancun to Toronto are typically about four hours, but passengers on board WestJet flight WS2695 endured a 14-hour ordeal. Pictured above is the flight map from Flight Aware  Toronto Pearson shared images of the airport on Thursday morning, notifying travelers that staff faced a 'foggy start to the day.'  Airport Duty Manager Michael Tomas said staff were in 'reduced visibility operations' due to the fog and warned passengers traveling to keep a close eye on their flight statuses.  Toronto Pearson and YKF directed inquiries to WestJet when approached by the Daily Mail for comment.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.