December 27, 2023
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
The New York-bound Eastern Airlines flight 3577 landed at Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday night due to weather reasons. The plane was carrying more than 200 migrants from Texas.
A plane carrying more than 200 migrants made an unscheduled landing at Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday night.
Eastern Airlines flight 3577 left El Paso International Airport in Texas and 1 p.m. EST and was heading for JFK International Airport in Queens, New York. But it was forced to land in Philadelphia due to "weather-related issues," according to PHL Public Affairs Manager Heather Redfern.
Two other flights — one scheduled for Boston, Massachusetts, and another for Westchester, New York — landed in PHL for similar reasons, Redfern said. The Federal Aviation Administration said that the landings were related to a fog advisory on the East Coast.
The flight 3577 passengers were placed on buses to reach New York and departed the Philly airport by 11 p.m., Redfern said. Eastern Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been busing migrants from the U.S. southern border to New York City and other Democratic-led cities, including Philadelphia, for more than a year. In November 2022, Abbott sent several buses carrying migrants to 30th Street Station without prior announcement.
On Wednesday morning, a spokesman for New York City Mayor Eric Adams accused Abbott of sending the migrants on flight 3577.
"Last night – in another inhumane act of treating human beings like political pawns – Texas attempted to send an unannounced and uncoordinated plane with migrants to New York City that was only diverted to Philadelphia due to extreme weather, but whose passengers were then transported here via bus," the spokesperson told ABC7 in New York.
