A flight carrying immigration detainees that had been stranded at Portsmouth International Airport for over 12 hours Monday because of severe winter weather departed early Tuesday morning to Sofia, Bulgaria, according to Port City Air.
The charter flight, Omni Air International 4065, arrived in New Hampshire from Harlingen, Texas at 1 a.m. Monday. Detainees were eventually let off the plane, fed, and held in the terminal overnight, according to a spokesperson for Port City Air, the on-the-ground operator at the airport.
Details of the incident have been difficult to confirm. A spokesperson for Portsmouth International Airport said they were not told the flight was arriving until 15 minutes before it landed.
“Had we been informed in advance of their intent to land at [Portsmouth] during the blizzard, we would have strongly advised against it and encouraged them to divert to another airport not being impacted by this severe winter storm,” the airport said in a statement.
Port City Air, the on-the ground operator, said this wasn’t their decision, either. A spokesperson said their operations remain open through the storm.
“Decisions about flights into, out of, and holding at Pease are not made by Port City Air. ICE-flight decisions are made by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” according to a statement from Port City Air. “It is our legal obligation to safely service any flights into or out of the airport.“
When an NHPR reporter called flight operator Omni to speak to a spokesperson, the person who answered the phone said, “We are a charter airline; we do not give out classified information” and hung up.
This incident has caught the attention of local officials and No ICE New Hampshire, a grassroots activist organization, which has been on the ground documenting deportation flights into and out of Portsmouth. Jo Jordan from the organization said the incident is an example of the agency’s “operational cruelty”.
"To force a flight into a blizzard shows a complete disregard for the safety of the flight crew and airport ground staff,” Jordan said. “This is not simply a logistical error; it is a feature of ICE's inhumane mission."
As of Tuesday morning, ICE had not responded to a request for comment.
This story was updated at 12:13 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, with details about the flight's departure.
This story is a production of the New England News Collaborative. It was originally published by New Hampshire Public Radio.
This article was originally published on February 24, 2026.
