At first it sounds like a typical case of bad behavior aboard airplanes.
The Mexico City International Airport acknowledged in a statement Friday that a man had opened an emergency exit and walked out on a wing of a plane that was parked and waiting for takeoff Thursday.
The airport said the man had been turned over to police.
But dozens of fellow passengers signed a written copy of a statement saying the airline made them wait for four hours without ventilation or water while the flight was delayed. According to photos of the statement posted online, fellow passengers said he acted “to protect everyone, with the support of everyone.”
Plenty of systems require operation to know if they are functional or not. So it’s pretty easy to think of ways that the aircraft can indicate a malfunction when it’s first leaving the gate with passengers aboard.
That doesn’t mean it is any less shitty.
Yeah, you can’t really say “we started the engines but #2 wouldn’t start, so we’re continuing to the destination on one engine”. Delaying/cancelling the flight due to a safety/maintenance issue is perfectly legitimate.
The issue is that after that, a) passengers are entitled to compensation depending on the delay, and b) you need to provide food/water/aircon or take the passengers back to the terminal.