Plane becomes sauna and passengers were told to ‘meditate' – so they stewed even more
Plane becomes sauna and passengers were told to 'meditate' – so they stewed even more
A plane sitting on a tarmac suddenly turned into a sauna when its air-conditioning conked out.
The flight crew's response? Meditate.
This triggered shock and exasperation among some passengers as they fanned themselves furiously with in-flight manuals and magazines.
The sweaty situation was captured in a 26-sec TikTok video by user brigchicago on June 24, showing passengers trying to cool themselves down after their flight got stuck on the tarmac and their plane's cooling system broke down.
It has since gone viral, with over 1.6 million views by June 30.
The account did not say what the airline was, where the plane was or where it was headed.
In the video, a flight attendant could be heard telling passengers: 'All right, folks, we're doing our best.'
Trying to explain the predicament they were in, she said: 'If we attempt to do a water service right now, it would put us back. We wouldn't be able to get in the air. And the sooner we get in the air, the sooner it'll cool off.'
But then she closed her update with: 'Do your best to just meditate and stay calm. Help each other.'
It seemed to have immediately got on many of the passengers' nerves, with one of them overheard saying: 'Are you serious right now?'
User brigchicago had captioned her video: 'pov it's 130 degrees on the plane & you're being told to meditate'.
However, her estimation of how hot it was inside the plane may have been an exaggeration. It was equivalent to 54 deg C, which was the hottest temperature ever recorded in 1913 in Death Valley, California.
Not a one-off
But it definitely was too hot in there, and something some other travellers have had to endure in the past.
In July 2023, a United Airlines flight scheduled to depart Newark for Rome left passengers stewing on the runway for seven hours, without water, food or air-conditioning.
That same month, a Delta flight in Las Vegas reportedly kept passengers aboard for up to four hours in 44 deg C, also without air conditioning. Several were treated by medics, and at least two people ended up hospitalised.
More recently, in June 2024, dozens of athletes headed to the IFMA World Muaythai Championships were trapped on a Qatar Airways flight in Greece with no ventilation. The cabin got so hot that passengers reportedly passed out and stripped down to stay conscious.
Most planes have a cooling system that works when the engines are roaring and the plane is in flight.
When the plane is sitting on a hot runway and the engines are off, an auxiliary power unit, which uses jet fuel, can push cold air into the cabin.
At the gate, airport workers can connect the plane to an external air-conditioning unit powered by the airport's electrical system, which can pump cool air into the plane through a hose.
Aviation consultant Ross Sagun told The New York Times that the problem is that the external air-conditioning units and auxiliary-powered cooling systems do not always function properly because of maintenance problems or neglect.
Outrage and sympathy
While plenty of TikTok users were horrified, some left sympathetic comments.
'I'd actually be having a medical emergency if it's 130, I'm calling the police at that point because this is a hostage crisis at that point,' said user chuckythelucky69.
'I would have had a panic attack,' another added.
'I'm pulling the emergency door, and we're all getting fresh air,' someone joked. 'Put me on the no-fly list.'
Others were more sympathetic towards the crew.
'She's just trying to help,' said user katrainwreck. 'It's not like this situation is her fault.'
'As a former flight attendant… they don't train us on situations like this,' added another user. 'She's doing her best in an awful situation with no other options.'
'People are so rude. She's trying to help everyone understand the situation and cope,' another said. 'Staying still and 'meditating' would lower the spread of heat as well as keep people as cool as possible.'
One user, however, tried to find the lighter side of the situation.
'Have they tried having a kid sing Moana?' one person asked.
That was a reference to another flight when a young girl serenaded passengers on a Delta flight that had been delayed for over four hours with a song from the movie Moana – and not everyone got that warm, fuzzy Disney feeling.
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