Next time you're having a bad day

Outrageous. They could have killed somebody!

Unbelievable, this goes beyond bad treatment of people. Could no one at the airport make a decision and let these people off the plane without threats. Where was the captain, can’t they make decisions under those circumstances.

Before the four hours I would have demanded to be let off despite the threats of the airline that maybe I would not get a flight for days. That is deplorable.
This is where the irate passenger syndrome could have manifested itself for a positive outcome.
Good thing you can direct your inquiries to Delta. That will be nice.
I cannot even believe this was allowed to happen.
Who was in charge of decisions and who could have done something? The pilot. Yes. They seem to want to wield the power of their position, yet there was a profound failure here.

I'm angry on their behalf. If that was me I'd have become a total Karen and been proud of it. I can't believe there wasn't a mutiny.

What is the problem about allowing passengers off a plane in such situations, if only to wait at the gate seating area? I’ve never understood this…is it a legal or security issue? Can’t you be secured in an area off the plane?Years ago we sat on a plane for nearly three hours waiting for a light on the wing to be replaced. I understand safety issues but I wondered then why we had to remain on the plane, though thankfully conditions were nothing like this. I hope all will be well.

This sounds just awful! I probably would have been very sick before we finally took off. I always say you always have at least one bad day when you travel, but I would hope this was my return flight, not at the beginning of the journey.

I would've been off that plane at the first opportunity, regardless of any threats from the airline to not rebook me for days.

Sometimes you have to think outside of the box instead of being bound by rules and procedures. For example, how about moving the airplane to a rather remote area, bringing in portable stairs, and allowing people to disembark voluntarily?

I do not see how that plane would have been able to fly without a deep cleaning. You had people sweating profusely, soiling themselves, and so forth. That would be the most stinky, horrid flight.

FWIW, the airline is required to let passengers know that if they disembark, they may not be able to get back on again. That is not a "threat" but something that is mandated under FAA rules. There are many regulations involved in passenger deboarding, so I would not be so quick to judge the crew, or the pilot unless you have all the facts.

What terrible reporting on this. The don't ever answer the two big obvious questions.

1. Why was the aircraft held on the ground for so long?
2. Why didn't the A/C work?

Or did the A/C work, but it would require running an engine and using fuel, which costs money?

If I left a dog in that hot a car, I could be arrested. Why aren't Delta's top management being arrested for this? They make policy, and policy failed.

What is the problem about allowing passengers off a plane in such situations

They had probably left the gate to allow another flight to use it and there were no gates available to use to unload passengers.

Maybe they could have found an arriving aircraft with working A/C (airplanes do normally have A/C, don't they?) and given the plane without A/C that gate. But then they would have had two aircraft sitting idle, and that would have cost them more money. It's all about money. Delta should be fined so much for this incident that they would never consider their course of action in this case the cheaper alternative.

If someone had died, the airline executives should have been charged with negligent homicide for letting that situation happen.

Nothing like rules and regs to sidestep common sense and compassion.

Mardee, thanks for the clarification. This is an interesting story and I'm looking forward to seeing some of our questions answered. It takes a special kind of stupid to not realize that passengers on a hot tarmac without adequate AC are going to be at risk of serious and even a deadly situation.

When a potentially life-threatening situation is happening you have to think beyond the policy manual. Somewhere this is a failure of leadership.

People getting sick and potentially dying? I'd risk "getting into trouble" to prevent further health disasters.

It would be interesting if the causes for this situation would eventually be explained.

According to the news as reported, the airport was initially unaware of the situation, so by inference, not involved in any decision. If the plane was on the tarmac the whole time (i.e., not at a gate), passengers would have had to do the emergency door opening procedure which also could have gotten them into trouble (could, not would, under the circumstances)..

There is no excuse for Delta to leave passengers in an airplane. They are lucky no one died. If the plane couldn’t go back to the gate, all passengers should have immediately been taken back to terminal.

Hopefully this link will work. Last night a reporter and fire chief in Scottsdale did a demonstration of what happens to people sitting in a car with windows up and car not running. They lasted 7 minutes. They wanted to stress heat impact on children and dogs left in car.

Scottsdale Fire Dept. Captain sits in hot car to raise awareness https://www.azfamily.com/2023/07/19/scottsdale-fire-dept-captain-sits-hot-car-raise-awareness/

It’s going to be 119* again today in Phoenix.

I once flew back from Germany with a stop in Philadelphia. When we left Philly for Denver, we sat on the taxi strip, burning fuel for over a half hour, maybe 45 minutes, in a long line of planes waiting to take off. That was the only way they had to meter takeoffs, you just waited in line, with the engines running, for your turn. At the time, PHL was a big hub for USAir (now part of American).

A few years ago, Denver tried a system where the plane was assigned the next available takeoff time, and sat at the gate until they could just taxi out to the runway and take off. I don't think DIA does that anymore.

That night in Philly, if all the planes lined up on the taxiway had been at their gates, I don't think there would have been gates available for arriving planes.

What an insane situation. Why did the A/C not work or was not adequate?

I can only say I hope there's some mighty compensation coming those passengers' way.

EDIT: I also don't understand the posts wondering why the A/C didn't work, why is that important? Regardless of why it happened, it happened and it was a horrible situation.

There is a lot of discussion on this article going on the Flyer Talk forum. One quote was of interest to me. I don't really have any facts to support it one way or another.

"FlightStats data shows it was actually an hour and 40 minutes from gate departure to gate return. Still too long to be without air conditioning in LAS but nowhere near four hours. Makes me wonder how much else of the story isn't true."

Carol, thanks for that. That is why I hate to condemn anybody without all the facts. And as much as others here get annoyed with me for citing rules and regulations, that is what the pilot and crew have to go by barring an outright emergency. Seeing the quote you mentioned makes me wonder what really happened.

As an aircrew member for 21 years this was an outright emergency.

https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/tarmac-delays#:~:text=For%20flights%20landing%20at%20U.S.,4%20hours%20for%20international%20flights.

According to the article, the passengers were told "...you can choose to get off the plane, just know you won’t get a flight out for a couple of days."

That's not the same as letting passengers know that if they disembark, they may not be able to get back on again.

It seems to me that the extreme temperature issue in itself was the initial emergency then people fainting, vomiting and the incontinence. Anyone going on oxygen is an emergency too. Someone, or many were negligent.
I sat on a tarmac for three hours in Jamaica 25 years ago. No air conditioning. I thought I was going to die. No offer to get off and no explanation. They did open a door at one point.

@Nancy asked:

I also don't understand the posts wondering why the A/C didn't work,
why is that important? Regardless of why it happened, it happened and
it was a horrible situation.

Some of us are curious about that because typically when a plane leaves the gate and is taxiing, the AC is switched on, especially when the weather is so hot (or cold, depending on the situation). So it is strange that it wouldn't be on or that it wouldn't be sufficient.

There are some reasons why the AC wouldn't be on until flight, as far as I know. One reason is if the plane only has just enough fuel to reach its destination and therefore they do not want to "unnecessarily" spend fuel. However, if it's that hot for that long, this wouldn't seem to be a case of "unnecessary" to turn on the AC.

So, that's why some of us wonder. It's not a question of whether or not the situation is horrible. Both questions or expressions can exist: it's a horrible situation and why were the AC not working or not turned on?

I also wonder about the AC on a plane waiting to take off. I wonder if this plane’s AC was similar to my recent experience. I was on a plane waiting to take off from DFW. The temp outside was very hot and we waited a long time in a line of planes waiting to be cleared for take off. The air over my seat was blowing but it was weak and not as cold as usual.

I asked the flight attendant about it but wasn’t confident in her response. She said the AC will get better once we are in the air. But she also said that it was unusual for the inside of the plane to be so hot and the AC to not be working well. I wondered, so which one is it? I was becoming quite uncomfortable, but we soon took off and eventually the cabin got cooler. I feel for those Delta passengers. I read in the paper that they got monetary compensation, meal and hotel vouchers and Delta miles. Must have been a serious mess up for the airline to give all that.

For those looking for more information on the technical side of this--such as some educated guesses from an airline pilot as to why the AC wasn't working--you can check out the following FlyerTalk thread...

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/2128865-dl555-las-atl-passengers-suffer-heat-stroke.html

A Delta spokesperson said that the aircraft’s air conditioning and cooling system was functioning

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-07-21/it-was-tk-tk-degrees-in-las-vegas-these-delta-airline-passengers-were-stuck-for-hours-on-the

I suppose it boils down to what one's definition of 'functioning' is.

A similar-sounding incident in Europe...

https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2023/07/22/ryanair-passengers-faint-and-have-panic-attacks-after-theyre-stuck-on-plane-without-air-conditioning-during-europes-sweltering-heatwave/

Like the Delta reports, light on details. However, with ever-hotter summers and packed planes not going away, perhaps the airlines and/or agencies with oversight over airlines need to come up with some updated guidelines in dealing with such situations.

I haven't read all the replies, but I'm wondering why the APU wasn't started to provide power for the A/C. According to one site that I checked, the APU is used for......

"Supply of cooling air for aircraft secondary systems, particularly when at ground idle in hot climates"

Ken, the ACU just can't keep up with those types of temperatures when idling on a desert runway. I sweated through my flight suit once in Kuwait. I was young then. But that was the U.S. Air Force and part of the job is to deal with adversity and discomfort, lack of sleep, etc. This was a civilian flight with old, obese, and unhealthy people aboard. It was a true life or death situation.

Looking at the facts: Flight attendants were seen running up and down the aisles with oxygen tanks. Multiple passengers had passed out and some had soiled themselves. The pilot instructed passengers to "hit your call button if you’re having a medical emergency."

A flight attendant and a passenger were transported to a local hospital.

Passengers were then given a choice to leave the plane, according to Garvin, but were told that if they did, it may take days to get another flight to Atlanta. Many passengers chose to stay on the plane, Garvin said, but temperatures inside began to rise again.

Temperatures at the airport fluctuated between 111 and 115 degrees on Monday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

After four hours, Garvin said stretchers were wheeled onto the plane, and passengers were asked to disembark back into the airport.

It seems that someone in this chain of events wasn't prepared. Given the high temperatures and predictable effect on passengerrs, something should have been done well before "Multiple passengers had passed out and some had soiled themselves". Of course, as usual hindsight is 20-20.