Wednesday night Broward County Sheriff Deputies were called by authorities at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport after passengers from a Spirit Airlines flight, that had been delayed, started to become unruly.
Deputies did not make any arrests, though additional delays were reported Thursday morning. The disruption in the Spirit schedule was apparently caused by aircraft inspections that Spirit were conducting after one of its fleet suffered engine failure in Texas last week.
A spokesperson for the airline said that after reviewing maintenance procedures, the airline is completing a voluntary and proactive check on the engines in their aircrafts as a measure of precaution.
The airline spokesperson said each aircraft had to be checked for about 45 minutes, but did acknowledge there were a number of flights that experienced significant delays.
In Atlanta, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said the agency did not know anything regarding the delays in Florida.
The delays have pushed a number of passengers to the point of complete frustration and anger. Close to 600 Spirit passengers were still in the terminal on Wednesday night.
One passenger described the terminal as a homeless shelter with people sleeping on the floor, people screaming, babies crying and unbearable heat.
One of the passengers said tempers got out of hand when people were left in the plane at the gate. Finally, officials de-boarded them before an all out riot took place.
Some of the passengers complained that the only thing the airline gave them was a voucher for $7. Luggage was not released so passengers had a hard time making alternative plans.
