More than 200 holidaymakers have now landed back in the UK after a hellish end to their trip
PASSENGERS on a Thomas Cook flight from Zante suffered fits and passed out yesterday as they were forced to wait for THREE HOURS on a plane without air conditioning.
Disturbing footage from inside the plane shows dehydrated holidaymakers drenched in sweat and leaning heavily on seats as temperatures reached 29C on the Greek island.
Airport staff are seen carrying out passengers who had passed out from the heat.
One passenger told Sun Online they saw "many people having panic attacks" while others reportedly stripped to deal with the unbearable heat.
Pregnant women and babies were apparently left to their own devices, while passengers claim two people were rushed to hospital.
Desperate holidaymakers say they broke into chanting in a bid to leave the overheated aircraft, with temperatures said to reach up to 48C in the back of the plane.
Passengers on the flight from hell say they were...
The 214 people on flight MH1805 were expecting to fly to Stansted airport at 2pm, and were initially told the delay was down to the plane needing to be refuelled.
They say they were repeatedly told they were taking off in a few minutes, and forbidden from leaving the grounded plane.
Lee Palombo was on the plane with his wife Flordelise, a nurse who rushed to assist a pregnant woman who was struggling to breathe.
The 43-year-old from Papworth, Cambridgeshire, said passengers begged for water but were denied it.
“I can’t fathom why they didn’t give us any drinks," he said. "Someone could have died on that plane.
“I’m very concerned that they would keep people on the plane in that boiling heat, I’m healthy so I was okay but people were getting really ill."
Diabetic passenger Isabella Wright said she nearly "passed out" from the heat and lack of food and described their treatment as "horrific" and a "breach of human rights".
The nightmare continued off the plane, as exhausted passengers were finally sent to hotels after the flight was eventually cancelled.
A pregnant lady was said to have been taken to different accommodation and told to stump up cash, and ended up spending the night in workers' accommodation without air con or a shower.
Isabella Wright added that her hotel room was "dirty and unhygienic" and had no clean spaces for her to carry out injections vital for her diabetes.
A Thomas Cook Airlines spokesperson said they would be looking into the individual claims, and confirmed passengers had departed Zante at 9am local time this morning - 19 hours after the scheduled departure.
They added that passengers were taken to a number of different hotels where they could get rooms, and all passengers were given welfare and dinner in addition to a hotel.
In a statement they said: "Flight MT1805 from Zante to Stansted was delayed due to a technical issue with the on board air conditioning.
"We tried to fix the issue so that we could get customers on their way as soon as possible, but we recognise that we should have disembarked the aircraft earlier.
"We are very sorry for the discomfort our customers experienced.
"All customers will be given a letter of apology with detail on their entitlement to compensation.”
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