This was a perfectly acceptable situation to be calling 911. They literally were being held hostage with no information. I would have kept calling 911 over and over until a cop arrived or something was done, interspersed with calls to local media, police agencies, etc. At around 6-8 hours I would have started telling the 911 operators I was considering opening an emergency exit.

I can charge my cell phone via USB off my two laptop batteries, and I always travel with two charged cell phone batteries. If I'm judicious about laptop usage, I can complain for a very long time on my cell phone.

What DL did was unacceptable. The pax should all be compensated with refund of their ticket, $600+ in cash or vouchers, and a serious apology. The cockpit crew and whatever operations people were involved should be severely disciplined or terminated. 10+ hours on a non-catered flight is a health and safety hazard, period.

I'm no fan of frivolous 911 calls. In fact, I keep the non-emergency number of all 5 of my local police agencies (Purdue, West Lafayette, Lafayette, Tippecanoe County Sheriff, IN state police) in my cell phone for non emergency calls. I have used all of them to report various problems, including wrong-way drivers on divided highways at night. But according to signs posted on some of the roads now, I should be reporting drunk drivers to 911. In an area outside my home region though, I would not hesitate to call 911.

Oddly enough, the only time I ever tried to dial 911 in my life (to report a rural late-night roadside fire from a pay phone in my pre cell phone days), it was in an area with no 911 service and it took me 15 minutes and several operator calls to contact the correct fire department. Not real awe inspiring.