SANFORD, Fla. – A Mount Dora woman says her trip on Allegiant Air Easter Weekend turned into a miserable nightmare for her family.
"Once we were on, it just kept getting hotter and hotter," Emily Coppens said. "About 20 minutes in, somebody came over the loudspeaker saying they were having trouble with the AC and it's going to be a quick process and they will get us up and going."
She said it was anything but quick,the delay stretched out to 90 minutes.
Coppens said the temperature rose every minute the plane stayed grounded. She took a video of her sweaty 3-year-old son, Dawson, to show how hot it was.
In the video the little boy wipes away sweat on his drenched head and said “I’m hot.”
"My husband and I were really worried about our little ones because we were feeling a little lightheaded for how hot it was," Coppens said.
She said she asked the flight attendants if she could take her two overheated children off the plane to wait, but they said no.
Coppens also asked for water.
"They said they had to see what they could do, but that they couldn't do that right now," she said.
It wasn't until 45 minutes into the delay that the flight attendants started to hand out water. That too was warm, Coppens said.
"There was no ice," Coppens said. "We got two cups for all four of us, 2 ounces each. It was pretty ridiculous."
Coppens said she filed a complaint immediately after her flight and called Allegiant Air hoping for an apology. As of Monday she has not heard back.
She called News 6 to Get Results.
"An apology would be great," she said.
Within an hour of her interview on Monday, Coppens said she got a call from an Allegiant Air official, who explained the situation and offered up an apology.
News 6 also contacted Allegiant Air. A spokeswoman for the airline said the delay on Flight 612 was because of a mechanical issue affecting on-board air circulation.
“Anticipating a quick fix, the crew asked passengers to remain on board the aircraft and seated in the interest of safety, and in order to ensure a prompt departure once the issue had been resolved,” Allegiant representative Hillarie Grey said. “As soon as it became apparent the delay would extend, the crew provided water service to all passengers. We do apologize to our passengers for the uncomfortable temperature inside the aircraft and thank them for their patience during the unanticipated delay.”