United Violated No Rules with 110-Degree Plane, FAA says

The Federal Aviation Administration said the temperature in a plane with air conditioning problems may have risen as high as 110 degrees Fahrenheit after passengers boarded one week ago.

But the FAA said the extreme heat lasted for a brief time before United Airlines employees got engines started - and air flowing. The incident did not violate air safety regulations, the agency said.

United Flight 909 was a Chicago to Denver route using a Boeing 777. The jet had arrived at O'Hare International Airport from Frankfurt, Germany.

During the taxi to the terminal, the crew was unable to start the plane's auxiliary power unit, or APU, which keeps air conditioning going at the gate when the main engines are shut down. The APU also is used to restart a main engine.

The FAA investigation said the jet sat on the ramp at O'Hare for three to four hours with no air conditioning - "getting heat-soaked." When the United captain arrived to fly to Denver, he found it was nearly 130 degrees in the cabin, the report found.

Workers tried to cool the plane with externally supplied air at the gate. When that failed to lower the temperature sufficiently, United crew members took the plane for a drive on the airfield with both engines running to get air flowing.

"The cabin cooled to approximately 95 degrees F, and they returned to the gate with instructions to expedite boarding of passengers before the cabin had a chance to get much warmer," the FAA said.

After passengers boarded, but before engines were started, "the cabin may have warmed to approximately 110 degrees," the report said.

"Basically, it was a very hot humid day in Chicago, and ramp services was not able to keep the airplanes very cool" with externally supplied air conditioning, FAA concluded. O'Hare's system for delivering that air "was over-taxed."

The plane took off nearly five hours after its scheduled departure, and the flight, with 188 passengers, was completed without further difficulty.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.