A 10-hour flight from the Netherlands stretched into 28 as passengers diverted from Sea-Tac Airport by fog sat on the ground at a central Washington airport, stuck on the plane because of custom regulations.

Food and water ran short for the approximately 300 passengers aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 33, and the toilets stopped working as the hours dragged on. At least two passengers were treated for medical conditions before passengers were finally allowed to stretch their legs late in the evening.

"It's like we're hostages without being in any kind of hostage situation," passenger Misha Shmidt, a violinist with the Seattle Symphony, told The Seattle Times while on the plane Tuesday night.

The flight finally arrived at Sea-Tac at 6:26 a.m. Wednesday, 18 hours after its scheduled 12:30 p.m. Tuesday arrival.

Heavy fog at Sea-Tac forced the crew of the DC-10-30 to circle the Seattle airport until fuel ran low and the plane had to be diverted across the Cascade Range to Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake. Since embarking on what was supposed to be a 10-hour nonstop flight from Amsterdam, passengers had already been on the plane for roughly 12 hours by the time it arrived at 2:20 p.m.

Passengers had to wait until another crew arrived from Northwest headquarters in Minnesota. The flight was delayed further after the plane carrying the crew suffered mechanical problems, airline spokeswoman Mary Stanik said. The crew finally arrived, but then the plane still wasn't able to leave because of bad weather in Moses Lake, Stanik said.

As passengers waited, food ran out and water had to be rationed. Pizza and soda were finally brought on board around 8:30 p.m., and the toilets also were eventually serviced.

Passenger John Castle, who was traveling with his family, described the atmosphere as "stale, foul and we're all tired."

"It's just horrible - with a 3-year-old and a 7-month-old, it's just ludicrous," he told The Seattle Times. "We've run out of games to play, and we've run out of baby food."

Despite the Grant County airport's "international" moniker, passengers initially weren't allowed to leave the plane because the airport, a former Air Force Base, isn't equipped to screen so many international travelers. They were finally allowed off the plane late in the evening, after airport officials temporarily cleared an airport terminal and posted sheriff's deputies at the entrances, effectively making it into an international terminal.

One man was taken off the plane by medics and a second passenger was treated for an unknown medical emergency.

Stanik said passengers would receive a gift pack that included phone cards and vouchers for a free airplane ticket anywhere Northwest flies in the United States and Canada.

"We apologized to our customers for any and all inconvenience," she said.

U.S. Customs spokesman Mike Milne said keeping the passengers on the plane for hours was unavoidable. He noted that bad weather and heavy holiday travel have created similar delays around the country.

"We're not doing it to be mean," he told The News Tribune in Tacoma. "We're doing it to preserve the security requirements. We're required by law to screen these people when they come to the United States."