Puerto Vallarta unrest forces Milwaukee flight home: 'Like a war zone'
Puerto Vallarta unrest forces Milwaukee flight home
A group of about a dozen friends from northeast Wisconsin returned home Sunday after unrest and violence in Mexico forced them to cut short a planned two-week vacation in Puerto Vallarta.
MILWAUKEE - A group of about a dozen friends from northeast Wisconsin returned home Sunday after unrest and violence in Mexico forced them to cut short a planned two-week vacation in Puerto Vallarta.
What we know:
The friends boarded a GlobalX flight from Milwaukee shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday for a trip they had been planning since last summer. By mid-afternoon, they were back in Milwaukee — frustrated but relieved.
"Last summer already, everybody was excited," said Julie Schmidt, who planned the trip to Puerto Vallarta.
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Instead of beginning their annual getaway, the group headed back to northeast Wisconsin after unrest and violence in Mexico led to cancellations and shelter-in-place advisories in Jalisco and surrounding Mexican states.
"We flew in there, and it looked like a war zone," said Brian LaFleur.
Images they shared show dense, black smoke rising along the coastline near the airport.
What they're saying:
The group landed around 11 a.m., but Schmidt says they never left the plane.
"And there was all kinds of black, pluming smoke all over the place," Schmidt said. "When we saw people being evacuated from the airport, we’re like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then the captain came on and said we are leaving, going back to Milwaukee because it’s not safe here, and I went, ‘Oh crap.’"
Puerto Vallarta unrest forces Milwaukee flight to return
A Puerto Vallarta flight landed in Milwaukee after violence in Mexico led to cancellations and shelter-in-place advisories, with passengers describing smoke and chaos at the airport.
"The plane next to us, you could see people running. It was kind of odd, because you could just see legs running," said Brian LaFleur.
About an hour later, they say the plane departed and returned to Milwaukee around 4 p.m.
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"We didn’t realize the situation was that serious. We really just thought they were going to divert us to another airport, put us on a bus and get us to our resort," said Jacque LaFleur.
Instead of driving home that day, the group stayed overnight in Oak Creek at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Milwaukee Airport.
They say it wasn’t until they returned that they learned more about the violence that ultimately canceled this year’s vacation.
"I’m just glad I’m home," said Julie Schmidt.
What's next:
The group says they plan to reschedule their annual trip for later this spring, this time focusing on somewhere in the Caribbean. For now, they say Mexico is off the table.
Puerto Vallarta unrest; traveler documents destruction, shares with FOX6
A FOX6 viewer in Puerto Vallarta shared video of burned buses and grocery stores after unrest in western Mexico, as U.S. officials urge Americans in Jalisco to shelter in place.
The Source: The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News.