Videos shared with CTV News show passengers boarding and disembarking with security cards while waiting for the WestJet flight to depart Montego Bay, and a woman collapsed in front of her seat.
Vancouver resident Grace Hill said she didn’t think much of the heat at first, and the flight crew assured passengers that the plane’s air conditioning would be turned on soon.
As time went on, however, Hill became more concerned.
“It was getting hotter and hotter on the plane with little to no communication,” he told CTV News.
The plane’s doors were closed and it pulled out of the gate, but the air conditioning was still not working, according to Hill.
He said passengers were told the plane needed an “air start” to start the engine and cool the cabin and that they would have to wait a little longer before the plane could take off.
Hill alleges that the flight crew initially refused the passengers’ demands to return to the gate and leave the plane.  She said many people had passed out and her sister had a panic attack.
“At this point, our plane comes together as a community because we can see that everyone here is at risk,” Hill said.  “There are people passing out. This is a life-threatening situation, almost, at this point.”
However, he claims, the flight crew told passengers returning to the gate would mean further delays and were reluctant to do so.
“We’re like, ‘We don’t care,'” Hill recalled.  “We have to save these people’s lives. There are old people passing out, there are children drenched in sweat.”
Average high temperatures in Montego Bay for the month of November are usually just under 30 C. Hill believes the plane’s cabin got much hotter than that.
“After begging and pleading with the flight crew, they finally decided to go back to the gate and open the doors, so we were all able to get out in a hurry,” Hill said, adding that the passengers were stuck in the cabin heat for about.  90 minutes in total.
Videos shared with CTV News show passengers boarding and disembarking with security cards while waiting for the WestJet flight to depart Montego Bay, and a woman collapsed in front of her seat.

PREVIOUS FLIGHT WAS ALSO DELAYED

For Hill and her family, the ordeal was an extension of what was already a travel nightmare.
She had planned to be on the island for a week, celebrating her mother’s destination wedding.  She ended up stuck there for nine days after a Sunwing holiday – through which she had originally booked the trip – delayed her original flight home three times, first by two hours, then by 14 and then by 19.
For Hill and several other family members, booking the WestJet flight was a way to get home quickly after missing their originally scheduled connection due to Sunwing delays.
It didn’t work out that way though.
After passengers disembarked from the WestJet flight, the airline canceled it, citing safety concerns.
The travelers were provided accommodation in Jamaica and returned home the next day, Friday, November 4.  The replacement flight was on the same plane that had overheated the day before, and Hill said no food or drink was available on the plane.
Asked for comment about the canceled flight, WestJet provided a brief statement to CTV News confirming some of the key details of the situation.
“WestJet flight WS2703 on November 3 experienced a mechanical problem which resulted in the aircraft requiring air start to help cool the cabin prior to departure,” the statement said.
“Unfortunately, due to the high temperatures and the time required to complete the required maintenance, the decision was made to land the aircraft and the flight was subsequently cancelled. Safety is our first priority and we sincerely apologize to our guests for the disruption and any inconvenience this may have caused.”
The company did not respond to a query about the passengers who allegedly passed out on the ship.

“WE HEARD NOTHING”

Hill said her family and more than a dozen strangers, united by their experience on the tarmac, have been texting and checking on each other’s well-being since returning to Canada.
CTV News reviewed screenshots from the WhatsApp group in which other members recount experiences similar to Hill’s.
Passengers have heard little from WestJet since the flight, Hill said.
“We’ve all sent letters to WestJet,” he said.  “Given such a traumatic event, you would think that before we were contacted, they would be able to check on our welfare, but we haven’t heard anything from them.”
Hill said she wants to hear “accountability and acknowledgment” from the airline, as well as an explanation of how WestJet plans to prevent this situation from happening again.  He also believes that passengers should be refunded for the canceled flight.