On a recent Northwest Airlines flight out of Memphis, we waited to take off on the tarmac for almost two hours. That alone would not be an uncommon story but the extreme heat inside the plane made the situation memorable- to say the least. Someone near me showed me a device that had the time and temperature. It showed a cabin temp of 102 degrees. All the while, the flight crew reported we would be cleared for take off very soon as we waited and waited in the heat.

Some of the passengers started to get ill. There was talk about suing the airline and false imprisonment. (Of course the high powered attorneys working for the airline would stop that in its tracks.) Many people told the flight attendants to turn on the air conditioning but they were told that this was impossible until we were airborne. Finally, we did take off and the plane cooled down.

I wondered if someone would have gotten real sick could the airline be held liable due to the 100 degree temps in the cabin?