Colorado mom says baby overheated while United jet sat on tarmac for hours

A United Airline Airbus A320 aircraft lands at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago (Reuters)

A Colorado woman said United Airlines was ‘not equipped’ to handle the urgency when her infant son began to overheat while the aircraft sat on the tarmac during a heatwave.

The Denver Post reported that last Thursday, Emily France, 39, and her 4-month-old were on board a plane for nearly two hours while it was delayed on a tarmac at Denver International Airport.

France told the paper that the plane was faced with a lot of issues. There was bad weather and the plane was going to take a longer route down to El Paso, Texas, which required more fuel.

She reportedly exited the plane for about 20 minutes and then was asked to re-board. At that point, the flight was delayed again due to bad weather.

“There was just hot air coming from the vents,” she told the paper. She continued, “We just sat and sat and sat. I hit my call button and said, ‘I think it’s getting dangerously hot back here.”

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The report said the flight crew responded and allowed the woman to stand in front of an open door. Some brought bags of ice for the boy. She told the paper that her son’s body was turning red and his eyes “rolled back in his head.”

“And then he went limp in my arms. It was the worst moment of my life,” she said.

United Airlines, in a statement to NBC News, said, "This should never have happened. We are profoundly sorry to our customer and her child for the experience they endured. We are actively looking into what happened to prevent this from occurring again."

Medical care reached the boy 16 minutes after the captain called paramedics, the report said. The boy was treated at a hospital and released, NBC reported.

"I am sharing Owen's story in the hopes that this never happens to anyone ever again," France said.