An SAS Scandinavian Airlines journey scheduled from New York to Copenhagen was unexpectedly interrupted when the aircraft was compelled to reroute to a Canadian military installation, leaving its passengers stranded for the night before the airline dispatched a substitute jet to collect them and continue the voyage to Denmark. The affected service, designated as Flight SK910 and operated by an Airbus A330‑300, had departed from Newark Liberty International Airport at precisely 5:47 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday. Its original transatlantic trajectory should have carried it directly across the North Atlantic toward Copenhagen, but an unforeseen issue, the nature of which remains unexplained, forced the crew to alter their course mid‑flight. After approximately three and a half hours of travel, the airplane deviated from its intended route, veering northwest before safely touching down at Goose Bay Airport in the remote region of Labrador, Canada, at 9:15 p.m. local time (AST), according to publicly available FlightAware tracking data.
At present, the circumstances necessitating the diversion remain undisclosed. The airline, SAS, has not provided a statement or clarification, and a request for comment from Business Insider reportedly went unanswered. Goose Bay, recognized as one of the final significant airports available as an emergency alternative before aircraft transition into the vast expanse of the North Atlantic, is frequently relied upon as a designated diversion site for transoceanic flights encountering operational difficulties. However, despite its strategic logistical importance, the airport is characterized by a scarcity of passenger amenities due to its primarily military orientation and its relatively small local population.
In response to the incident, SAS organized a complex recovery operation the following day. On Monday morning, the airline dispatched an empty Airbus A330, recorded as flight SK9201, from Copenhagen specifically to retrieve the stranded travelers. This substitute aircraft departed the Danish capital at approximately 10:55 a.m. local time and completed its transatlantic crossing shortly thereafter, arriving in Goose Bay in the early afternoon, as evidenced by data from Flightradar24. Observing the unusual flight activity, the aviation‑tracking platform remarked on social media platform X that a “presumably very light SAS A330” had been hurriedly deployed to the remote Canadian base to rescue the affected passengers.
Once the replacement aircraft had completed passenger boarding and refueling operations, it departed Goose Bay again for Copenhagen at around 7:15 p.m. local time. After a lengthy overnight journey back across the Atlantic, the airplane ultimately landed at approximately 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning in Denmark. Consequently, those originally scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen on Monday morning found themselves delayed by roughly twenty‑two hours, experiencing an unplanned overnight stay in the austere Arctic setting of Labrador.
It remains uncertain where the stranded passengers spent the night—whether they were permitted to stay within the confines of the military base facilities or accommodated elsewhere. A prior case provides some context: in a comparable 2023 incident, a Delta Airlines flight likewise diverted to Goose Bay, leaving 270 travelers temporarily housed overnight within military barracks on the base. Given Goose Bay’s modest population of around 8,000 residents and the limited civilian infrastructure supporting the area, commercial diversions of this scale place considerable logistical pressure on both local authorities and airline operations. When aircraft make emergency landings there, passengers often endure significant waits until a replacement jet, flight crew, or maintenance team can be sent from another destination.
As of early Tuesday morning, at 5 a.m. Eastern Time, the original SAS A330 involved in the unscheduled landing was still positioned on the tarmac in Goose Bay, further underscoring the operational disruption and complexity that such diversions create in the global web of long‑haul aviation.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/newark-passengers-stranded-overnight-at-canadian-military-base-2025-11
