An American Airlines passenger said she had to get off the plane she had just boarded after a five-hour delay because the pilots ran out of flight time.
Sheila Gray had arrived in Charlotte on Saturday after returning from Rome and was trying to get home to Boston.
She told Insider, “All I wanted was to go home to my bed. I had been up for 24 hours at this point and getting out was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
While in Charlotte, her flight was delayed several times because “the plane was in a hangar being repaired,” the gate agent told her.
When the plane was ready, just 20 minutes after boarding, the pilot ordered all passengers to get off the plane because “the crew timed out and could not fly.”
Gray added, “People were angry and yelling at the gate agents. An angry gentleman in the gate area was later escorted off the plane after we reboarded. I didn’t hear him cause a commotion on the plane, but I saw him after we were taken off the plane.”
Replacement pilots were found and the original cabin turned out to be airworthy too.
Gray shared text messages from the airline showing how many times her flight was delayed.
She stressed that “the gate agents and flight attendants were wonderful” but everyone was furious with the pilot “because he certainly knew he was about to board – he still let us on board.”
Gray, her husband, and their two daughters often fly American Airlines, but this wasn’t her first bad experience. Last month, the family missed a connecting flight from Philadelphia to Boston when their flight from Paris was delayed.
The summer chaos continues to affect the travel plans of many passengers. Thousands of flights have been canceled and airlines are struggling to meet demand as baggage piles up in some terminals.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.