British Airways flight diverted to Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- British Airways flight 183 was diverted to Philadelphia International Airport due to bad weather.

It was supposed to be a direct flight from London's Heathrow Airport and arriving at New York's JFK Airport.

However due to bad weather, the pilot was forced to circle around JFK and ultimately divert to Philadelphia where the flight landed at 11:32 p.m. Friday.

Then things got worse as passengers and crew sat on the tarmac for hours.

"We were in economy, it smelled, there was no fresh air, it was cramped, we were all tired, some people had children," said Tracy Scherman, passenger.

Around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, passengers were let off the plane and even then they were free from their travel nightmare.

They still had to go through customs, which was closed, and not expected to open until 5:00 a.m.

"Then when we got off the plane, a lot of people were angry because then who wants to go sit on the floor," said Scherman.

They sat on the floor and took to social media venting their frustrations.

Actor Jeremy Piven was also a passenger on-board and also took to Twitter.

British Airways released a statement apologizing for the delay.

"The captain of BA183 decided to divert the aircraft due to bad weather at JFK Airport. We're very sorry for the delay to our customers' journey but safety is always our top priority," it said. "Our staff looked after them, rebooking those with connections and arranging bus transfers to New York. All of our customers are now on their way to their destinations."

Passengers were eventually re-booked to their final destinations or taken by bus to New York.