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Passengers Trapped On The Tarmac At Dulles For Hours

Plane left eight hours after scheduled departure; passengers were on board for six hours of the delay

Saturday, May 30, 2009 | Updated 12:00 AM EDT

Passengers Trapped On The Tarmac At Dulles For Hours

Some passengers trying to make their way from Washington to Montreal sat on the tarmac for hours Friday afternoon.

United Flight 7542 was scheduled to take off at about 12:20 p.m. The plane was delayed because of reports of bad weather in northern New York and Canada.

The plane was unable to return to the gate for hours because of lightning, passengers told News4.

Passengers were only allowed to exit the plane and stretch their legs at about 6 p.m. The plane left for Montreal two hours later.

"People were in a pretty good mood for a while," a passenger on board told News 4. "But people have things to do, places to go. Most people brought reading materials that would allow them to cover the 1.5 hour flight we were supposed to have."

United Airlines called the delay an unfortunate incident. Airline officials said workers didn't want to open the exit door with lightning in the area.