FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It took nearly 24 hours for Spirit Airlines passengers on-board a red eye flight from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale to reach their destination after making a lengthy stop in Houston.
Spirit flight 130 left LAX at 10 p.m. PST Saturday.
Midway through the flight, a passenger began acting out and the pilot was forced to land in Houston.
Houston police said the passenger, an 87-year-old blind man, was not charged. It's unclear why he became upset.
Passengers said they then sat on the tarmac without air conditioning from 4:30 to 6:30 a.m. The plane was supposed to land at FLL at 6 a.m. EST.
Because Spirit doesn't fly to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from Houston, it suggested the idea of busing passengers nearly five hours north to Dallas.
Cellphone video caught the passengers' angry reactions.
"I'm calling every freaking media right now!" yelled one passenger.
"Folks, I hear you. Folks, I hear you. Please. I hear you. I know you're upset," said a Spirit employee.
Spirit released a statement on Sunday evening, saying: "We understand that this has been an inconvenience for our customers, but the safety of our customers is always the top priority. All customers are being given full refunds for this inconvenience."
Spirit said time constraints prevented the flight from taking off from Houston.
Passengers aboard the original flight from Los Angeles arrived in Fort Lauderdale late Sunday after another Spirit plane was sent to Houston.