A United Airlines Boeing 767, which made...
flight crew was changed.Chesnokov said the pilot later told passengers that they would be making an emergency landing on an island, however did not specify which one.
"They started dumping fuel right before the landing," he said.
The plane landed at the Terceira Das Lajes Airport in the Azores and the passengers were taken to the waiting terminal. Since the Azores are the territory of Portugal, only a small number of passengers with EU citizenship or valid Schengen visas were then taken by bus to a hotel. The remainder, mostly Russians, was required to remain in the terminal for eight-nine hours before paperwork was completed to allow them to leave the terminal, Chesnokov said.
He said passengers were not given any food or beverages during the waiting period and the small bar inside the transit terminal was "wiped out in minutes."
The flight is scheduled to leave Terceira for Moscow on Thursday afternoon.