Passengers faced a two-hour delay as ground staff waited for glue to dry after patching-up a hole in a plane’s tail-wing.
The drama happened as people were waiting to board the Flybe flight from the Hebrides to Edinburgh.
And last night a churchman who was among those kept waiting branded the airlines’s service between Stornoway and the capital “second rate” – and claimed it was held up regularly because of technical faults.
The Rev Iver Martin said he used the service at least twice a month and decided to speak out because he believed the situation was “beyond a joke”.
But a spokesman for Loganair, which operates the service for Flybe, said the said the delay was unavoidable because “passenger safety must always be our primary concern”.
Stornoway Free Church of Scotland minister Mr Martin, who also is the principal of the Edinburgh Theological Seminary, was among about 15 passengers waiting to board a 5pm Edinburgh-Stornoway flight.
He said he was too angry to be nervous when the plane eventually took off – but did wonder what would have happened if the fault developed while airborne.
Mr Martin, who was on his way home after a trip to Asia and had gone 20 hours without sleep, said: “At 4.30pm I was sitting at the gate and was told there would be a delay because there was a fault in the aircraft.
“We were left for two-and-half hours not knowing if the flight was going to be going or not.
“A member of ground staff told us a hole had developed in part of the tail-wing and they were pleased to announce they had put a patch on the hole and were waiting for the glue to dry.
“You have to ask is this acceptable in this day and age? And the answer is – absolutely not.
Mr Martin, who paid £127 for a discounted one-way ticket, said people on Lewis complained frequently about the quality of the Flybe service.
“They are supposed to be providing a service and for the prices we are paying it is second rate,” he added.
“This is totally unacceptable, I keep hearing about this time and time again from people who use the service and Flybe do not appear to be doing anything about it.”
Mr Martin said he complained to staff at Edinburgh Airport but there was no one there directly employed by Flybe to take responsibility.
“I think is has gone beyond a joke, I am so fed up with them,” he added.
Flybe will operate flights from Aberdeen International Airport to London City twice a day from October 27.
A spokesman for Loganair, which runs the Flybe Stornoway-Edinburgh service, said he was sorry Mr Martin was inconvenienced.
He added: “During a pre-flight inspection ahead of the 5pm departure of the BE6147 service from Edinburgh to Stornoway on October 1, a fault was discovered in the aircraft’s de-icing system,” he added.
“The pneumatic section of the tail needed an adhesive patch, which required the necessary curing period before the aircraft was cleared for departure at 7.23pm.
“We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the inconvenience caused, but as a provider of public transport services passenger safety must always be our primary concern.”