A Colorado mother is criticizing United Airlines for its response after her baby became overheated while their flight-delayed aircraft sat on the tarmac in Denver during Thursday’s heatwave.
Emily France, 39, an author from Superior, said airlines should allow passengers to leave delayed aircraft that become unbearably hot.
France told The Denver Post that her baby became overheated after they waited nearly two hours inside an airplane that was delayed on the tarmac at Denver International Airport, and that it took an estimated 30 minutes to leave the plane once she requested an ambulance.
“They were not equipped to handle it,” France said. “They couldn’t evacuate us. It was chaos. I really thought my son was going to die in my arms.”
READ: American Airlines flight from LAX to Boston diverts to DIA to dump unruly passenger
France’s son, Owen, was recovering at home Friday after being treated Thursday at Children’s Hospital. Doctors said he has no underlying medical condition but was suffering from the heat, she said. Temperatures at DIA had reached 90 degrees before noon, according to the National Weather Service. France said Friday she was trying to recover emotionally and is leery about plans to fly to visit family over the July 4 holiday.
Heath Montgomery, a DIA spokesman, confirmed there was a medical call at 2:59 p.m. at a United gate for an infant experiencing shortness of breath. He referred other questions about the incident to United.
In an emailed statement to The Post, United said: “Yesterday, a child onboard flight 4644 at Denver International Airport experienced a medical issue while the aircraft was taxiing prior to takeoff. The pilot returned to the gate as our crew called for paramedics to meet the aircraft. Our thoughts are with the child and family, and we have been in contact to offer travel assistance.”
United experienced a public relations crisis in April when a video widely shared online showed security agents dragging a man off an overbooked flight in Chicago.
France planned to fly with Owen to El Paso, Texas, to join her husband, an astrophysicist, for a rocket launch. Their flight was scheduled to leave Denver at 1:50 p.m. Thursday, and France was one of the first passengers to board — around 1:20 p.m.
France was assigned to a seat in the rear of the plane and it was hot inside when she boarded, she said.
“There was just hot air coming from the vents,” she said.
The flight crew announced that bad weather on the planned route was forcing the pilot to fly a different path, which would require more fuel. Takeoff was delayed to allow the ground crew to add fuel, France said.
France said she put wet wipes on Owen’s neck and down his shirt to cool him. His body felt hotter as they sat in the aircraft, she said, and flight attendants brought ice in garbage bags to place on the 4-month-old.
“We just sat and sat and sat,” France said. “I hit my call button and said, ‘I think it’s getting dangerously hot back here.'”
Crew members allowed France and Owen to leave the aircraft for 20 minutes. They were called back for takeoff, but when France returned to their seat the flight was delayed again because of bad weather, she said.
Crew members allowed France to take Owen to the front of the aircraft, where she said she held the infant in front of the open door. Flight attendants brought more bags of ice, she said. Another woman traveling with a baby removed her child’s clothes and was holding a bag of ice against the child’s chest, she said.
Owen struggled in the heat, France said.
“His whole body flashed red and his eyes rolled back in his head and he was screaming,” France said. “And then he went limp in my arms. It was the worst moment of my life.”
France and other passengers begged for an ambulance. There appeared to be disagreement between the flight crew and the ground crew over whether stairs should be pushed to the aircraft or the airplane should return to the gate, she said.
France said she sobbed as she sat by the open door and waited as Owen drifted in and out consciousness. She estimates they waited 30 minutes before the airplane returned to the gate.
“They seemed completely unprepared for a medical emergency,” she said.
In all, France estimates they were on the airplane for more than two hours, finally getting into an ambulance about 3:45 p.m.
Current regulations prevent airlines from keeping passengers on the tarmac waiting to take off or taxi to a terminal sit on a plane for more than two hours. At two hours, they must provide bathroom breaks, drinks and food. At three hours, passengers must be allowed to exit the aircraft.
France thinks another benchmark should be set. “If the temperature in the plane gets above a certain level, passengers should be taken off immediately,” she said.
On Friday, France said she was still waiting to hear from United about her experience.
“No one from the airline has called to see if my son is OK,” she said. “It can’t be that often infants are evacuated by ambulances from their airplanes. You’d think it would be on somebody’s desk.”
ironmanix on June 27th, 2017 at 14:44 UTC »
I was stuck in a hot plane (united, of course) on a runway at O'Hare a few years back. We got on the plane wearing suits for a business meeting. We could see the weather was bad between Chicago and Cleveland and that there was no chance that the plane would take off - even asked both the desk and the flight crew about it before getting on the plane, and they assured us that we were going to take off immediately after boarding.
Anyway, we get on the plane and it's already stifling hot. This was a small plane that we had to board by stairs. My seat was the window seat next to a guy that was built like Charles Barkley. He actually apologized to me as I squeezed myself into the seat. So they get the plane boarded and we sit there for 20 minutes. The plane, again, is stifling. They tell us that the A/C is not working but it will work once we get in the air. I'm a generally very tolerant person, but it was probably 100 degrees in the plane - it was difficult to even breath standing up let alone being cramped in. And it was getting hotter and hotter. And that was with the door of the plane OPEN.
So a bunch of people start to complain and ask what the issue is - why aren't we taking off like they said. Capt. comes on and says we are waiting for clearance. Then they close the door and move what seems to be like 30'. Now we are official. And he stops the plane and turns it off. Says there is a weather delay and the whole "we'll get you in the air as soon as possible" bullshit.
We sat there for about 30 minutes before people that were being extremely patient started to lose it. I called over a FA and told him that I asked him directly if we'd be delayed (because I would never have stayed on that plane had I known). He said that it was out of his control but that he had to tell me what he told me and that they pulled forward and stopped because that counts as an "on-time" flight for them or something. We sat there for another 30 minutes and it was sweltering - everybody was literally drenched from sweat at that point, and finally people started calling United, calling the police, etc.. Then someone asked the minimum crime they'd have to commit to get thrown off the plane and the passengers started talking about the fact that if we all said that there was a bomb on the plane at the exact same time that they couldn't arrest all of us. LOL..
I think the FA's were shitting their pants because the pilot finally came on about 90 minutes into the ordeal and said "it seems like the cabin is getting a little uncomfortable so we are going to go back to the gate and let you folks off to cool off" like he was doing us some sort of favor.
I legit thought we were going to be on the national news that day. I've had 3 root canals and some bad, bad hangovers in my life, and I would rate that hour of my life amongst the worst I've ever experienced.
Edited to add.. I started this post with the intent to express just how hot it can get in a plane sitting on a runway in the summer sun. Had I not experienced it first hand, I might have thought that this woman was maybe being a little dramatic or posturing for a lawsuit. But knowing how hot it gets, if I was in that situation there is no question in my mind I'd have ended up in jail. In fact, had I been on the plane with her I may have taken the bullet on her behalf just to get the pressure off of her and to have gotten her child help. It's utter horseshit that they cannot deal with a situation like this. Morons.
Iferius on June 27th, 2017 at 13:55 UTC »
So... United breaks guitars, noses and babies?
wonderlandrabbit on June 27th, 2017 at 13:04 UTC »
I feel like I know way too many people who have had experiences like this, but all healthy adults. The current regulations seem like they'd be fine for them, but I agree, something needs to be done to not let people be trapped in an aircraft that's becoming dangerously hot. It's heartbreaking and infuriating when people leave their children or pets in hot cars, we should demand that the same common sense be applied in a situation like this. People with medical issues, the very young, and the very old cannot be expected to deal with this. What if the child had not been okay? I would be terrified as well had I been in that mother's shoes.
Edit: I forgot the word "in" (that mother's shoes).