WASHINGTON -- Federal officials are fining three airlines a total of $175,000 for their role in the stranding of passengers overnight on an airport tarmac in Rochester, Minn., this summer. The Department of Transportation says it fined Houston-based Continental Airlines and its regional airline partner ExpressJet a combined $100,000 for their part in the stranding of Continental Express Flight 2816 on Aug. 8. DOT also said in a statement that it has fined Mesaba Airlines, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. Flight 2816 was en route from Houston to Minneapolis carrying 47 passengers when thunderstorms forced it to divert to Rochester. The airport closed and a Mesaba employee refused to open the terminal for the stranded passengers.
