Flight Delay & Chaos

On September 2, 2010 I was to fly from Damascus International Airport via Istanbul back to Germany with Turkish Airlines. The flight was due at 9:55 am. We boarded the plane, but then we were told that there was a problem on the engine. After an hour of waiting in the plane, the captain informed us that we should all leave the plane because it could not be fixed. Inside the airport one staff of Turkish Airlines at the transit desk was totally overwhelmed with the situation. He later disappeared while dozens of passenger, some with infants and small children, waited for some information about what to do. After 4 hours of waiting without getting any information or asistance at all, we were finally told that those flying to Istanbul could take the evening flight and the others would be booked into a hotel for the night and fly the next day. After another hour we were taken in taxis to a nearby hotel to find out that it was already booked out. After another 30 min we were finally taken to a good hotel further away with no information about what would happen the next day. In the middle of the night, at 1 am, I was torn out of sleep by someone from Turkish Airlines telling me that a cab was waiting to take me and the others to the airport. We were supposed to take the nightflight to Istanbul. It finally worked out and I arrived in Germany a day later than planed.