May 10--A three-hour flight from Port-au-Prince to Miami earlier this week turned into a 10-hour ordeal, after the plane was diverted to West Palm Beach with passengers unable to get out due to a lack of Customs clearance.

American Airlines Flight 1908 left Port-au-Prince at 5:12 p.m. on Sunday. It didn't arrive in Miami until 3:05 a.m. on Monday.

During it all, the people stuck on the plane only got a bag of chips to eat, said passenger Mouna Boulos, who lives in Delray Beach and also has a home in Haiti, where she went to attend a wedding.

"They kept us almost 10 hours. This is not fair," said Boulos, 51, who had to pay $150 for a taxi from Miami to Delray, and finally got home at 5 a.m.

The issue of airlines holding passengers onboard grounded planes has come under the scrutiny of Congress since 1999, when Northwest Airlines passengers were stranded for hours in Detroit due to a blizzard.

But it sparked particular outrage in February this year, when JetBlue Airways passengers were held for more than 10 hours at New York's JFK amid heavy snow and frigid temperatures. The meltdown prompted the airline to enact a Customer Bill of Rights, which offers vouchers in various amounts for ground delays.

In April, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing on consumer rights, including holding passengers on delayed flights. But the committee is not yet moving any legislation, Jim Berard, director of communications for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said Wednesday.