Anyone who walked into the Santos Dumont terminal late this Thursday afternoon (August 27) found departure boards full of red notices and lines at the airline counters. A small Embraer jet skidded off the runway while landing at around 4:10 p.m., and the airport, in downtown Rio de Janeiro, suspended all operations.

According to Infraero, the state-owned airport operator, only the pilot and one crew member were on board, and no one was injured. Their identities were not released. The aircraft came to a stop on the grass beside the runway, where it remained into the evening waiting to be removed.

The impact on passengers was immediate. By early evening, 15 flights bound for Santos Dumont had been diverted to Galeão International Airport. The cancellation count varies by outlet: Folha de S.Paulo and G1 reported 42 cancelled flights, while Agência Brasil, citing Infraero, put the number at 53. Flights on the Rio-São Paulo air shuttle, the airport's busiest route, were among those affected.

It falls to Infraero, which runs Santos Dumont, to clear the plane from the grass and reopen the runway. In a statement, the company said it activated the airport's emergency plan and that the removal will be done with a crane, with support from the fire department.

"At the moment, airport operations are suspended for the removal of the aircraft, which is on the grass area beside the runway," the Infraero statement said.

There is no forecast for when operations will resume. Investigators from Cenipa, Brazil's Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents, are already at the airport to determine the cause of the runway excursion.

What to do if your flight was affected

Under resolution 400 of Anac, the civil aviation regulator, airlines owe passengers assistance even when a cancellation is not their fault. According to G1, these rules apply:

• If a flight is cancelled, the passenger chooses between rebooking, a full refund or alternative transport.
• After 1 hour of waiting, the airline must provide communication (internet or phone); after 2 hours, food; after 4 hours, accommodation and transport.
• The airline must update passengers on the estimated departure time every 30 minutes.
• If the airline fails to comply, passengers can file a complaint on the federal platform Consumidor.gov.br and, for larger losses, turn to the consumer protection agency Procon or the courts.

Lawyer Rodrigo Alvim, a specialist in passenger rights, notes that Brazil's Consumer Protection Code also applies: "In the case of a flight cancellation, article 14 of the code establishes that the service provider is liable for the damages it causes the consumer."