A severe winter storm caused more than 100 flight cancellations out of Toronto Pearson International Airport Wednesday, and a passenger described his experience with harsh words. ."It's 3:10 a.m. on Thursday, and we're still on the tarmac," said Toronto resident Ricardo Rapaport in a Thursday email to blogTO. ."This is a prison." .Rapaport boarded Air Canada flight AC 90 from Toronto to Sao Paulo on Wednesday with a scheduled departure time of 9:30 p.m., all as snow descended on the airport. .He contacted blogTO from the airplane almost six hours after his scheduled departure, frustrated with the devolving experience. All he was given was a cereal bar and cup of water. .The passenger went on to say the plane was de-iced one hour prior. He added it will "probably have to be de-iced again." .Rapaport would continue to email blogTO as the plane idled and passengers grew frustrated, reporting a little before 3:30 a.m. a passenger had fallen ill and flight crews were searching for a doctor. .He said he did not know when the flight was taking off. The flight crew let passengers stretch their legs at the bridge. .Rapaport said minutes later a person was having a medical emergency, and the plane was heading back to the gate for the second time. The delay was because of mechanical issues and staff shortages. .His final update came around 4:15 a.m., saying he was stuck on the plane for seven hours. The flight had been cancelled. .“Seven hours tour around Pearson's tarmac,” he said. .Air Canada said AC 90 was “initially delayed by a mechanical issue and then weather conditions.”."Following these, after it left the gate to take off, a customer medical emergency required the aircraft to return to the gate again,” said Air Canada. .At this point, it said the flight crew was unable to operate due to the regulations limiting crew duty days. The flight was cancelled, and the passengers were scheduled to travel later that morning. .Toronto Pearson International Airport said in December it was helping airline staff clear baggage from waiting areas because of problems related to a recent snowstorm. .READ MORE: People, luggage crowd Toronto airport amid flight delays.“Much of the backlog has already been dealt with; many more will be by end of day,” said Pearson. .Pearson asked people to contact their airlines for inquiries.
