Forty-seven passengers aboard an ExpressJet Embraer ERJ 145 bound for Minneapolis from Houston spent six hours on the tarmac in Rochester, Minn., during the early morning of August 10 due to thunderstorms at their planned destination. Some
two-and-a-half hours after leaving Houston at 9:30 p.m. on August 9, the 50-seat jet, operating as Continental Express, diverted to Rochester and waited on the ground until the pilots reached their maximum duty time at about 6 a.m. The flight re-boarded with
a new crew–but without a functioning lavatory–in Rochester at 9:30 a.m. and arrived at MSP at 11 a.m. The following day DOT Secretary Ray LaHood launched an investigation into the matter. “While we don’t yet have all the facts, this incident as reported is very troubling,” said LaHood.