Delta passengers on a plane bound for Atlanta say they ended up getting stuck on the tarmac for hours in triple-digit heat awaiting takeoff in Las Vegas.
KVVU reports that Delta flight 555 never departed Harry Reid International Airport on Monday as scheduled and ended up staying on the tarmac as temperatures soared into the 110s.
“It was just chaos,” passenger Krista Garvin said. “A woman was walking up the aisle who looked like she was going to pass out, and they ended up putting an oxygen mask on her.”
Passengers were stuck inside the plane for over four hours. The temperature inside the plane was 111 degrees, according to Garvin.
“There were ambulances outside the window, multiple firemen and departments. A bunch of people had thrown up, people had fainted,” Garvin said.
She said the flight was scheduled to leave at 1:40 p.m., but after two hours on the runway, people around her started to get sick from the heat, including flight attendants.
“It’s just traumatizing,” Garvin said. “People were running around everywhere and they came over the loudspeaker saying, ‘You can choose to get off the plane, but just know you won’t get a flight out for a couple of days.’”
After four hours, Garvin said everyone was then asked to leave the plane, and the flight was canceled. Those who had fainted were taken out on stretchers.
“Medical teams responded to a call aboard an aircraft. Further questions about the aircraft should be directed to the airline,” a spokesperson from the Harry Reid International Airport said.
According to Garvin, she was told to come back the next day for a flight out at 7 a.m., but that was also canceled.
“We apologize for the experience our customers had on flight 555 from Las Vegas to Atlanta on July 17,” a spokesperson for Delta Airlines shared.
The airline added, “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.”