An American Airlines flight delay led to passengers being forced to remain stuck on sweltering planes last week. According to the New York Post, flight 327 from Charlotte to New York was delayed almost six hours due to a combination of inclement weather and maintenance issues.
The flight was scheduled to depart Charlotte at 1:07 p.m., however, it was held up on the runway when there was a problem with the fuel tank. Passengers say they were stuck on board without air conditioning or food service during this time.
“Just sat on a plane with limited AC for three hours while they were fixing the fuel tank, turns out they can’t fix it and now we’re switching planes I——,” passenger Genna Contino, who is a reporter for the Charlotte Observer, posted to her Twitter account.
At 4:30 p.m., the passengers were moved onto another plane, however, it was also hot and uncomfortable.
“Entering hour 6 of sitting on a plane with no AC, no food, no drink service. Someone on the flight is having a mental breakdown,” Contino later posted.
She said the air conditioning was shut off to save fuel but that it was eventually turned on after “people started sobbing and having panic attacks.” According to Contino, passengers were prevented from getting off the plane.
Andrew Trull, a spokesperson for American Airlines, told the Charlotte Observer that, if the flight had left the gate, a snack would have been served “after a period of time.”
“While certainly an unfortunate delay, it is something we apologize to our customers for with the combination of maintenance and weather,” he said.
Trull said that passengers did have the opportunity to get off the plane since it was still at the gate and that a preconditioned air hose was likely pumping cool air from the jet bridge onto the aircraft.
The flight finally departed for New York at 7:03 p.m.
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