On December 30, 2008, Northwest Airlines Flight 3161 from Minneapolis to Dubuque, IA was scheduled to depart at 1:30 P.M., however the airline monitors at the airport, as well as airline staff, indicated that the flight would be delayed until 2:50 P.M. The father of a family with three autistic sons arrived at the gate around 1:30 P.M. The gate agent told him that the rest of the family would have one minute to get there before the boarding door closed. When they arrived less than one minute later, she refused to let them board, stating that the plane had to leave now to avoid being late. Within the next two minutes, three more passengers, for a total of eight, arrived and begged for the jet bridge to be put back so they could board, but their entreaty was denied. Over 30 minutes later, the plane finally pushed-back.