American Airlines passengers were left 'sobbing' after being held on a hot plane for 6 hrs

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American Airlines passengers were left 'sobbing' after being held on a hot plane for six hours, report says

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American Airlines held passengers on a hot plane with no food or drink service for six hours on Sunday afternoon, according to a reporter for The Charlotte Observer.

According to The Charlotte Observer, the flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport to New York City JFK was scheduled to depart in the early afternoon, but due to issues with the fuel tank, the airline transferred passengers to another plane before holding it on the runway.

Genna Contino, a reporter for the news outlet who was on the flight, said the first plane had "limited" air conditioning for the first three hours, while the second plane had no air conditioning or food-and-drink services.

She said in a tweet that by the sixth hour of being held on the plane, another passenger on the flight was having a "mental breakdown." She added that American Airlines did not allow passengers to exit despite their distress.

Contino said the airline turned the air conditioning off to save fuel, "until people started sobbing and having panic attacks."

Representatives for American Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Andrew Trull, an American Airlines spokesperson, told The Charlotte Observer that maintenance issues and a weather delay caused the six-hour holdup.

Tull told the local news outlet that the flight to JFK originally boarded at 1:40 p.m., but the airline later told passengers to leave the plane at 3:50 p.m. They then boarded another aircraft at 4:30 p.m., which eventually left for JFK at 7:30 p.m.

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