Passengers leaving on a flight out of Denver suffered an extremely unpleasant start to their trip when the Lufthansa flight was held on the tarmac, with the passengers on board, for three hours with no air conditioning on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
"They said there were some technical and mechanical malfunctions," Sarah Bogue, a passenger who was on the flight with her toddler, told 9 News in Colorado. "They ran out of water.
"I can't even tell you how hot it is in here," she added. "They should at least let us off the plane to wait."
Lufthansa Flight 447 was scheduled to depart Denver to Frankfort, Germany, at 5:40 p.m., according to The Denver Channel.
The air conditioning suffered a mechanical problem, according to an airport spokesperson, which resulted in the passengers suffering an air conditioning problem of their own from the lack of it.
The heat was so bad that paramedics were called to the plane about 90 minutes after the malfunction. No one required medical treatment, though some passengers complained of heat exhaustion, according to Laura Coale, an airport spokeswoman.
The passengers were eventually deplaned and waited another hour inside the terminal before being put on another departing flight at 10 p.m. for the nine-hour trip to Frankfort.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) policy states that passengers can't be kept on a plane on the tarmac for more than three hours. However, international carriers can set their own standards, and Lufthansa has a four-hour rule.
Lufthansa has not commented on the incident at this time.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
