Planes collide at JFK as eastern United States freezes

New York: The eastern United States and Canada froze on Saturday under record-breaking low temperatures following a deadly winter storm as New York’s flagship airport descended into chaos, battling to contain flight backlog. In Canada, temperatures approaching minus-50º Celsius were forecast in northern Ontario and Quebec.

Arctic blasts and dangerously cold wind chills could make it feel as low as minus-42ºC across the eastern United States, with the risk of frostbite to exposed skin within 10 minutes, officials warned. The deep freeze follows a storm, dubbed a “bomb cyclone” by forecasters, which has been blamed for at least 19 deaths in the United States, from Texas to Wisconsin, US media reported.

The storm raked the East Coast with heavy snowfall, glacial temperatures and high winds, forcing the cancellation of flights. More than 3,420 flights within, into or out of the United States were still delayed, with New York’s John F. Kennedy airport and South Carolina’s Charleston among the most affected.

Adding to the chaos, a China Southern Airlines and Kuwait Airways jet clipped each other’s wings at JFK’s Terminal 4 late Friday, causing damage to both aircraft but no injuries, officials said.

The Port Authority, which runs New York-area airports, announced that flights were being limited into JFK, “including all flights scheduled to arrive into Terminal 1 for the rest of the evening.”

It said a surge in flights rescheduled after the storm, combined with severe storm damage to equipment, resulted in delays in getting planes and passengers to gates. Tracking site Flightradar24 said at least 12 international flights had been waiting, around two to four hours, for a gate to deplane.

Passengers complained of being stranded on the tarmac for hours and then facing lengthy delays in baggage claim that made traveling, particularly with babies or the elderly, a misery.

“Losing patience,” tweeted passenger James Allen, who said he travelled on Virgin Atlantic and had to wait three hours on the tarmac before reaching the gate, then two hours in baggage claim. “Two small children hungry, thirsty and tired with no facilities or help in baggage reclaim. Very poor,” he tweeted.

Multiple trans-Atlantic flights simply gave up and went home, including an Aeroflot flight from Moscow that turned back over Iceland. In New York, the National Weather Service chalked up record temperatures for the day at each of its climate sites except for Central Park, with temperatures about 25ºC below normal.