American Airlines passengers were stuck on an Atlantic island for 20 hours after their plane was diverted when pilots smelled smoke in the cockpit, report says

• Passengers were left for 20 hours in an airport after American diverted a flight from Miami to London, per PA.
• American told PA it had to divert the flight to Bermuda because of a possible mechanical breakdown.

Passengers onboard an American Airlines flight said they were stranded for 20 hours on an island in the Atlantic Ocean after the flight diverted because of a possible mechanical breakdown, British news agency the Press Association reported.

The flight departed from Miami on Sunday evening and was scheduled to fly to London Heathrow, but was forced to divert to Bermuda — a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean — because of a "possible mechanical issue," American told Insider in a statement.

Flight-tracking site FlightAware shows the plane took off from Miami International airport, flew past Bermuda, and then made a U-turn to head towards the island for landing.

The airline didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Cited in other media reports, PA reported it understood the flight couldn't carry on its journey to London after an inspection because of the crew's rest requirements under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s rules.

One passenger, Jonathan Lo, told PA the captain announced on the flight there was "an indication of overheating electronics" and later on said there was the smell of smoke in the cockpit, cited in reports. Lo told PA there were fire engines following the aircraft after landing, though this is standard procedure in such instances.

Passengers received their first update about the situation more than three hours after disembarking the plane, Lo told the PA, per reports. They were banned from leaving Bermuda's airport because of the island's COVID-19 restrictions, according to the PA report.

Passengers on the flight waited for 20 hours in LF Wade International Airport in St George's to board another flight to reach London, Lo told PA, cited in reports. Airport staff provided passengers with food after around 10 hours waiting in the airport. There were just eight toilets and no showers, Lo told the news agency.

Danny Wells, another passenger, told PA there were rows of people sleeping on the airport floor with blankets taken from the plane because the air conditioning was running which meant passengers were very cold, cited in reports.

Wells posted a picture on Twitter of the food he received in the airport, which included sausage and eggs.

Passengers boarded a replacement flight to London on Monday evening and landed in London on Tuesday morning, American told Insider.

"We never want to disrupt our customers' travel plans, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused," American said.