Passengers aboard Allegiant Airlines flight 592 from Las Vegas to Phoenix vented their anger in a surprisingly healthy manner Sunday after having spent several hours on the tarmac with no air conditioning: They turned to music -- specifically, R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly."
According to a YouTube description by user "joeypancakes," the journey involved about five hours on the tarmac in two separate planes. Additionally, they had "no snacks, no water, no A/C ... Two people passed out, two vomited."
"To avoid a mutiny," the description continues, "the passengers banded together in song."
In a video of the event, one passenger starts to play "I Believe I Can Fly" on a portable stereo. He holds the device above his head as others laugh and applaud. Travelers toward the rear of the plane put their hands up, waving them side to side along with the beat. At the chorus, quite a few exhausted passengers join in a singalong, belting out the song's signature lyrics:
I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky. I think about it every night and day -- spread my wings and fly away. I believe I can soar, I see me running through that open door. I believe I can fly.
Reached for comment by Phoenix's Fox10, passenger Francine Gutierrez described a stressful scene, particularly given Sunday's high temperature of 108 degrees.
"One of the passengers started getting a bloody nose from the heat so she rushed to the bathroom. Followed by her was another passenger that was starting to vomit," Gutierrez said. "A third passenger passed out in the middle of the aisle. Everyone was kind of frantic."
In a phone conversation with The Huffington Post, Allegiant Airlines spokesman Brian Davis explained a medical issue aboard the flight forced passengers to change aircraft, leading to the initial delay. Once they boarded a new jet and pushed back from the gate, a mechanical issue prevented the flight from taking off, causing a second delay. As the plane was no longer relying on power from the ground at that point, the air conditioner could not be turned on.
In total, said Davis, the flight was delayed about four hours. He added that passengers on the flight have been given a $100 credit toward future travel on the airline and that Allegiant's first priority is "the safety of their passengers."
We're guessing it was an air traffic controller -- not R. Kelly -- who finally cleared the jet for takeoff; either way, the patient passengers did eventually "touch the sky."