Three airlines fined in Minnesota tarmac stranding

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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 said it fined 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.

The DOT also said in a statement it had 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.

-- Associated Press