A teacher whose father is suffering from cancer is one of scores of American citizens trapped in Russia after the last passenger flight to the U.S. was canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Grace Mitchell, 26, told NBC News she had no plans to leave her home in the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, until she got a phone call from her mother saying her father’s cancer had taken a turn for the worse.
“All we could do really was try to get the last flight out of Russia because if I don't get a flight soon then I probably won't see my dad ever again,” Mitchell said.
So on April 3, along with hundreds of other passengers, the English teacher from Washington stateboarded Aeroflot Flight 102 at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, thinking it was her last chance to get home.
It was one of the few flights available out of Russia as many had been canceled when the country's government restricted international travel in its effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow had also warned that the flight, which was scheduled to go from Moscow to New York on April 3, could be the last one for the month.
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ICU nurse Elena Salomatina, 40, was also hoping to fly home so she could help her colleagues at Georgetown University Hospital in the District of Columbia treat the the influx of patients suffering with the COVID-19.
She said she had already had two flights canceled by the time she boarded Flight 102 which was then aborted before takeoff.
“I feel so guilty just sitting here,” she said.
Aeroflot later said in a statement that the flight was canceled "following a decision by Russian aviation authorities to suspend all permits previously granted to carriers for charter flights to repatriate Russian and CIS citizens."
NBC News has contacted the Russia government for comment.
The U.S. Embassy later sent an alert saying that it was organizing a charter flight from Moscow next week with the permission of the Russian government.
"They want us to sign up for the charter flight and wait for emails," Mitchell said. "So it's just like a waiting game. That's what it feels like."
Until then, passengers have had to seek lodging and wait for information. Some are staying in hotels, but others have simply stayed in the airport.
Marina Ivanova, 48, said she had remained in the airport's transfer zone, because she did not have the money to spend on a hotel. A permanent resident in the U.S., she added that she was hoping to return home to Los Angeles.
As they await news, passengers said they had been using social media to stay connected and up to date with the latest information.
“People who live near Moscow have been offering their apartments and stuff, which is really cool,” Mitchell said.
Salomatina added that it had been therapeutic to connect with other passengers.
“We met in the airport actually, and it was like therapy,” she said. “They're very supportive. We support each other and we keep our hopes up.”
As of April 3, more than 22,000 Americans in foreign countries are still looking to the U.S. government for help in getting back home, according to U.S. Department of State estimates. President Trump recently announced that the department had coordinated the return of as many as 40,000 Americans from more than 400 countries.
"Our hope is that the American government will help us," Salomatina said. "That's what we're relying on."
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Americans play the 'waiting game' after last passenger plane from Moscow canceled - NBC News
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