Minneapolis ? A Northwest Airlines flight to Tokyo finally took off Saturday morning – 43 hours late.

Mechanical problems and a lack of a crew had kept the Boeing 747-400 on the ground since its scheduled departure time of 3 p.m. Thursday.

The delay was not caused by the airline’s mechanics’ strike, which began Aug. 20, Northwest spokeswoman Jennifer Bagdade said.

Passengers were kept on the plane for a total of nine hours over a 24-hour period, said airline spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch.

Northwest apologized to the passengers and will pay for two nights’ worth of food and lodging and plans to give them $700 in travel certificates.