- ABC News
- April 4, 2020
Americans stranded by coronavirus in Russia
Hundreds of Americans are stuck in Russia after the country abruptly suspended international air traffic on Friday in response to the coronavirus epidemic, forcing the last flight bound for the U.S. to cancel its takeoff even as it was waiting on the runway. Julian MacKay, a ballet dancer, and his younger brother, Nicholas, had been frantically trying to get out of Russia for two weeks to reach their father, who is dying of cancer in Montana. The brothers on Friday thought they had managed to do so as they fastened themselves into their seats on the last flight out of Moscow to New York, which was run by the Russian state airline Aeroflot. The plane's doors were already closed as the plane prepared to leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport. They were messaging their mother to tell her they were on their way when a cockpit announcement in Russian suddenly informed passengers the flight was canceled. Pandemonium followed, as desperate and angry passengers demanded answers...