( CNN ) -- A JetBlue pilot is n't happy with his employer after being stuck on the tarmac of a Connecticut airport for some eight hours on Saturday . Neither are many of his passengers . Flights from Fort Lauderdale , Florida , to Newark , New Jersey , are usually uneventful -- two-plus hours of flight and then taxi to the gate -- but throw in a freak October snowstorm and it 's a different story . JetBlue Flight 504 departed Fort Lauderdale at 10:07 a.m . ET Saturday -- 32 minutes late . The flight made it to Newark -- just not to the runway , thanks to the weather and was diverted to Bradley International Airport near Hartford , Connecticut . It landed at 1:07 p.m. What came next was an eight-hour ordeal for passengers -- and crew -- as the plane sat stuck on the tarmac with little food or water . `` I got a problem here on the airplane . I 'm going to need to have the cops onboard , '' a flight crew member told the tower in a conversation posted on LiveATC.net , a website that monitors air traffic control conversations . `` I need some air stairs brought over here and the cops brought onboard the airplane . '' Passenger Roseann Kozma explained the situation in a phone interview with CNN affiliate WTIC-TV from the plane . `` A couple passengers are fighting and there 's a baby on here that 's been crying the whole time , '' she said . `` We can not go to the bathrooms anymore . There 's no running water , '' said Todd Bailey , another passenger . `` They tell us that we 're going to be going in soon , going in soon , going in soon -- and it just never happens . '' Adding to the frustration and tension were passengers with medical conditions . `` I have a paraplegic that needs to come off , '' the pilot said . `` I have a diabetic here that 's got an issue ... I 've just got to get some help . '' But the plane was still not at a gate , further frustrating the pilot . `` Look , you know , we ca n't seem to get any help from our own company , '' the pilot told the tower . `` I apologize for this , but if there is any way you can get a tug and a tow bar out here to us and get us towed somewhere to a gate or something . I do n't care , take us anywhere . '' The pilot , though frustrated , offered thanks to Bradley International officials . `` Listen , I just want to put in my two cents worth in for whatever it worth . Thank you very much , '' he said . `` It 's Capt . Thompson over here on ( Flight ) 504 ... I think we 've got more help from you guys than our own people . '' The passengers broke into applause when the door finally opened , saying `` Let us out ! Let us out ! Let us out ! '' JetBlue apologized for the situation and blamed it on a `` confluence of events , '' including intermittent power outages that complicated matters . `` We worked with the airport to secure services , but our flights were six of the 23 reported diversions into Hartford , including international flights ( picture big jets carrying hundreds of people ) , the airline said on its website . `` Getting all the flights deplaned at the same time in a small airport is not unlike trying to get an elephant into a smart car ; it 's not an easy fit . '' Passengers deplaned around 9 p.m. , according to JetBlue .
Plane bound for Newark on Saturday was rerouted to Hartford airport . Pilot : Sick baby , fighting , two passengers ' medical conditions ramped up tension . ` ` I ' m going to need to have the cops onboard , '' flight crew ' told passengers . JetBlue apologizes , saying location and size of airport led to backlog .