Generally speaking, plane diversions are no fun and one recent flight from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia was not an exception.

Travel delays are no fun and one recent flight from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia was no exception.

United Airlines Flight UA863 was forced to land about 200 miles outside of its destination of Sydney due to a runway closure.

They were left stranded in Canberra for 7 long hours. One 27-year-old passenger, who was flying home to visit his family for Christmas, remarked “We sat on the plane for around three and a half hours. Then we were allowed off the plane and got to stretch our legs on the tarmac.”

The reason why they couldn’t immediately get off the aircraft was because they could not be processed through immigration at the airport. By the time travelers were permitted to exit the aircraft without violating border crossing protocol, frustration was running rampant.

The pilots had also clocked too many hours, preventing them from flying further to Sydney. Passengers had to wait for new pilots to arrive, while the plane was being refueled.

A number of passengers used social media to vent their anger about the situation.