"Delta passengers fall ill while stuck on the tarmac for hours during the blistering heat."

[sarcasmo]

Snip < “We apologize for the experience our customers had on flight 555," the airline said in a statement. "Delta teams are looking into the circumstances that led to uncomfortable temperatures inside the cabin and we appreciate the efforts of our people and first responders at Harry Reid International.”



Snip < "Krista Garvin, a field producer for Fox News, said she was on the flight when the incident unfolded, calling it an "INSANE experience." She said a number of passengers passed out due to the heat.


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/delta-passengers-fall-ill-stuck-tarmac-hours-blistering-las-vegas-heat-rcna95050

[NCDem47]

1. "Here's 250 SkyMiles for the inconvience."

[Sneederbunk]

2. Extra smoked almonds for everyone.

[sarcasmo]

4. Only one juice per passenger.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Too expensive to turn on the AC?

[Ocelot II]

8. APU could have been inoperative, but otherwise I can't think why.

Takeoff might have been delayed because of the high temperatures (airplanes don't take off very well when it's very hot), so less fuel (weight) is better than more. I can't think why they didn't go back to the gate if their departure was delayed so much. Used to work for Delta, their service is usually pretty good. Some heads will roll, I think.

[treestar]

12. Exactly

why not return to gait? They seem to always be willing to sit a very long time before considering that.

[Ocelot II]

15. I tried to find more info, turns out they were stuck in a takeoff queue

and had dispatched with inop air conditioning equipment (which is legal per the minimum equipment list). If you get stuck in a line of airplanes you can't go anywhere because you can't turn around. Nobody wants to just sit there - and the cockpit is the hottest place in the airplane; the flight crew were certainly as miserable as everyone else and were probably on the radio to dispatch and ATC and everyone else they could think of. I think this will turn out to be the result of a whole string of mistakes and miscalculations, as these things almost always are.

[treestar]

16. thanks for finding out

quora answer, but sounds knowledgeable:

You have three power sources on an airplane: the engines themselves that have an in-built generator, an additional, small engine that’s in the back and just for electricity, that’s called the APU or Auxiliary Power Unit and third, while on the ground, there’s the GPU or Ground Power Unit which is essentially a power cord that’s plugged into the plane.

AC can run off all of these power sources, but:

The engines are usually not running while boarding for safety reasons
The GPU is rarely used. Also many airports don’t have them for all airplane models.
So essentially, that leaves us just with the APU.
The APU however, on hot days, often can’t provide enough power to effectively run the AC, which is why AC is often turned off on the ground to keep the power for other appliances.

But apart from all that, and that’s the real reason for many flights: the APU is VERY often broken. And until the routine checks at it’s home airport, it won’t get fixed as it’s not directly important for safety.

And well that’s why the AC often isn’t working before the main engines are turned on …

Have a great day!

EDIT: As Marius pointed out correctly you’d have a problem if the engines are off, the APU is broken and there’s no GPU. You wouldn’t have electricity for the Cockpit etc. Fortunately, however, every airplane has batteries capable of providing the necessary appliances with electricity! And of course, if an airline knows their APU is broken, they will be doing everything possible to get a GPU.

https://www.quora.com/Why-doesnt-air-conditioning-seem-to-work-when-a-plane-is-on-the-ground-but-works-perfectly-in-flight

Might be OK for ordinary temperatures, so here the problem was deciding that was OK on a really really hot day, whether technically allowed or not.

[Ocelot II]

20. Also, the APU can be running and supplying electricity to the airplane,

but some other component of the air conditioning system could be inoperative. And it's true that the APU doesn't do a very good job of air conditioning - it's a small jet engine that sits in the back of the airplane and it really can't effectively air condition a whole airplane in hot weather. Its primary function is to supply mechanical power to start the engines and electrical power when the engines aren't running, since battery power is limited.

[Maru Kitteh]

23. I hope that answer if full of crap, because lose engines in the air

and you'll find out how "directly important for safety" the APU is.

[treestar]

25. Yes I thought AC is always on

even in winter, as it will be very warm in that metal tube. Which explains the odor that you notice as airplane, that AC residue.

[dalton99a]

5. Insert passengers in metal tube, cook at 111 F for 3 hours

[sarcasmo]

10. Rotate at the hour and a half mark.

[OAITW r.2.0]

6. Eventually, someone is going to die in one of these situations.

There ought to be federal laws that address this problem.

[Sky Jewels]

7. Well Krista Garvin of Fox News, I don't believe you.

I mean, Fox News has insisted that global warming is a lib hoax, so this couldn't possibly have happened.

[treestar]

17. If they can fake school shootings

this would be an easy fake.

[we can do it]

9. Why did it happen?

[stopdiggin]

11. the headline reads, "Delta passengers FALL ill -"

other threads have as many as 5 (and additional flight attendant?) removed with medical attention

and - the "circumstances leading to 'uncomfortable' cabin temperature" - are fairly easily pointed to - 'non-functioning AC.'

If this had been a child or a pet in a parked car ... Criminal charges.

[sarcasmo]

13. Thanks, missed the f.

[ZonkerHarris]

14. the passengers should have called 911

[SalamanderSleeps]

18. Most airliners can handle about 30-40 mins on the ground.

After that the cabin temperatures run away and there is no engineering solution, short of creating a flying refrigerator, that can handle this.

Hydrogen fuel cell planes might be able to negate this problem in the future, but for now we are stuck with choking on the tarmac.

[brooklynite]

19. I once sat on the tarmac at Dubai for 8 hours while a monsoon passed through South Asia.

[RussBLib]

21. This kind of stuff has kept us from flying

...we haven't flown anywhere since January of 2020, just before COVID hit. Seems each week brings more cancellations, delays, or crap like this story. Still waiting.

[beaglelover]

22. One time we were flying from to LAX from London in early July.

After they fully boarded the 747 which was totally full, they come on to say that they still needed to refuel so there will be a delay before we leave the gate. That plane got SO hot inside. We were in the claustrophobic coach section and I was in the middle seat and I had to get up and stand because I was starting to have a panic attack. I think we were delayed about an hour before we took off for our 11 hour flight to L.A. That was a LONG flight indeed.

[dembotoz]

24. i was bored last time i flew and paid attention to the passenger flight access thing

speed, navigation, altitude....standard stuff

they also had outside temp and it was really cold

once get into the air perhaps a/c not a big thing