According to the airline, an "indication of a mechanical issue in an engine" prompted the flight crew to divert the Airbus A330 to an Air Force base in the Azores. It is a remote chain of islands off the coast of Portugal. "Seeing all the emergency vehicles lining the runway, it reminded us it was a potentially dangerous situation," Elder said.

Customers on a Delta Air Lines flight from Madrid to New York spent more than a day on Terceira, Azores — a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean — after an engine problem midflight prompted an emergency landing,