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How hot is too hot aboard an airliner? U.S. law doesn’t say

KSweeley

Member
Link: https://apnews.com/b97804ab19cf42a4...o-hot-aboard-an-airliner?-The-law-doesn't-say

July 14, 2017

Every day, tens of thousands of U.S. airline passengers settle into their seats, lower the window shades and reach up to twist the air vents without the benefit of something that might do even more to keep them cool: a rule setting temperature limits inside the cabin.

Airlines have their own guidelines — some allowing the mercury to hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) — and federal regulations cover air flow and, more generally, passenger safety and comfort.

But nowhere do authorities say how hot is too hot when a plane is sitting on the ground — a fact illustrated this summer when a mother holding her beet-red infant had to plead to be let off a broiling regional jet stuck on the tarmac at Denver International Airport.

Emily France said she and her 4-month-old son, Owen, sweltered aboard the 50-seat “oven with wings” for more than an hour June 22 before it returned to the gate and passengers were allowed off briefly.

When they re-boarded the United Airlines flight to El Paso, Texas, the cabin felt even warmer, France said. With the flight delayed again, she stripped off Owen’s clothing and applied ice bags brought by flight attendants, but his condition deteriorated.

“I heard a cry from my son that I have never heard before, and his skin looked a color that I had never seen before, and I knew he was in trouble,” she said. “Then he just stopped crying. And he went limp in my arms.”

“I said, ‘Get an ambulance and get me off the plane,’” she recalled
.

She and the boy were taken away by ambulance. Doctors determined the baby suffered no lasting effects.

France said she hopes federal regulators take note, and she has hired a lawyer who specializes in airline safety law. He is demanding an explanation.

“There is no reason why heat bad enough to cause people to pass out is happening in cabins,” said the attorney, David Rapoport.

The 50,000-member Association of Flight Attendants has been lobbying Congress for years to set a maximum cabin temperature of 80 degrees (27 Celsius).

“Bottom line, the airlines and regulators do not consider temperature to be a safety issue,”
union spokeswoman Taylor Garland said. “Therefore, it’s low on the list of priorities when it comes to on-time departures.”

United, which was hit with bad publicity three months ago when a passenger was dragged off an overcrowded flight in Chicago, apologized to the baby’s mother but had no explanation of what went wrong.

“This should never have happened,” United
spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin said. “We are profoundly sorry to our customer and her child for the experience they endured. We are actively looking into what happened to prevent this from occurring again.”
 

Nepenthe

Member
A mother shouldn't have to plead to be let out of a high-temperature area when her baby goes red and limp. Sue their asses.
 
You would think airlines would get their shit together after the bad publicity United got for beating the shit out of that passenger, but it's like they're in a constant hold my beer battle

Then again who can blame them. No punishment at all, they just have to deal with being a meme for a week, that's it
 

ItIsOkBro

Member
I took one of those smaller united airlines planes that leads to a much larger connetion and everyone was dying it was so hot.
 

TrounceX

Member
It was just the other week I was stuck on a runway in Dallas while the plane turned into an oven. It was definitely 80+ in there, everyone onboard was sweating. I was actually getting a bit claustrophobic too. Thank God we took off when we did.
 
I was on a quick flight from SJC to LAX and we were stuck on the runway for 40 minutes (longer than the flight almost) and it was unbearable. When we finally got underway it was near 53c in the cabin. This wasn't the summer time or anything like that. Something should be done about that because it is really crazy.
 
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