AP story about a Northwest Airlines Amsterdam-Seattle flight held for 18 hours on a Grant County airport runway. Food and water ran out on the plane and the toilets stopped working, but passengers were not allowed to disembark.
Questioned about the massive stupidity of holding passengers hostage on the flight, U.S. Customs spokesman Mike Milne said: "We're not doing it to be mean. We're doing it to preserve the security requirements. We're required by law to screen these people when they come to the United States."
So, everyone on the flight is getting a free ticket and other guilt gifts fron the airline, but that doesn't make up for the pain of knowing U.S. officials have the problem-solving skills of bovine cattle, does it?