Travel nightmare unfolds as major airline scraps flight after harrowing 12-hour delay

Passengers on a United Airlines flight from Washington, D.C., to Rome on Oct. 2 faced a grueling overnight ordeal as they waited nearly 12 hours to take off — only to have the airline cancel the flight before it left the ground.

United Airlines Flight 884 was scheduled to depart Washington Dulles International Airport at 5:35 p.m. on Oct. 2 for an overnight trip to Rome's Fiumicino Airport.

Instead, passengers were grounded by a cascading series of issues, including a cockpit malfunction, severe thunderstorms and crew changes, "The Aviation Hub" blog reported.

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"United flight 884 from Washington Dulles to Rome returned to the gate after taxiing to take on additional fuel for a longer planned flight due to weather," United Airlines told Fox News Digital in a statement.

"During this time, a new crew was brought in and a maintenance issue that arose was resolved. The aircraft then pushed back from the gate, but then required another mechanical inspection," the airline's statement continued.

"The flight was then canceled due to crew time limits. We rebooked customers on an extra flight that departed on Saturday evening," the statement concluded.

A faulty door seal and mishap with the plane's pushback tug likely also played a part in the delays, according to the "Simple Flying" aviation blog.

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The problems weren't over, however.

When the flight was canceled at around 4 a.m. the following morning, some of the travelers had been facing delays for 12 hours, Men's Journal noted.

Then, after technical issues, there were thunderstorms. 

The plane sat on the tarmac, waiting to depart. The Boeing 777-200ER returned to the gate around three hours later to refuel, according to several reports.

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Ultimately, the passengers had to exit the aircraft because the first crew reached its legal duty-time limit after a six-hour delay. 

A new crew started, but subsequent mechanical issues forced everyone to deplane a second time before the flight was finally canceled.

The affected passengers were finally rebooked on another flight that took off from Dulles just before 7 p.m. on Saturday, putting them en route to Rome over 25 hours later than originally planned.

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A frustrated passenger vented in the United Airlines MileagePlus Experts group on Facebook.

"I’m surprised there hasn’t been a mutiny," wrote the passenger, who was on the flight.

"You should be eligible for compensation if you have a traveler's credit card. These things happen. That's why there's insurance," another Facebook user responded.

Not everyone was sympathetic.

"I fly a lot also. If you can’t handle the problems, you have three choices. Fly private, fly a different [airline], don’t fly. I have been flying for 43 years with United. There are ups and downs, live with them or move on," the Facebook user said.

Yet another United flyer said, "Most of the issues you point out are regulations written in blood. … I’d rather not have to relearn them at the risk of safety."