Going to Denver for a roast...

As more than 200 Denver- bound United Airlines passengers waited to board Flight 909 from Chicago on Monday, it became apparent that something was wrong.

The Boeing 777, parked at the gate at O'Hare International Airport, was extremely hot. As in 115 degrees. The plane's auxiliary power unit, which generates electricity when engines are shut down at the gate, was broken. That killed the air conditioning and triggered a five-hour ordeal for passengers and crew.

United officials had a dilemma: Figure out how to cool the plane in near 100-degree heat, then board the passengers and send them to Denver; or buy them hotel rooms in Chicago.

They chose the first option.

"I couldn't breathe; I thought I was going to faint," said passenger Sandy Ball, in seat 37C.

The plane was due to leave at 2:45 p.m.

Maintenance workers first tried to pump cool air into the empty plane at the gate. That didn't work. Then the crew started one engine, called for a push back and drove the plane away to get the temperature to a bearable level. That helped.

About 6:30 p.m., the big jet reappeared at the terminal and a growing gaggle of United officials told remaining travelers they would be boarding. The cabin still was hot, but once an engine was started, the temperature would drop.

By 7, all were on board, and the door closed. It was hot in the cabin, probably in the low 90s. Officials said they had extra water and juice, but instead of a bottle of water on each seat, there was a blanket.

Captain Michael Glawe gave an ultimatum to United officials: Get air hooked up for the start in one minute or empty the plane. He was worried about heatstroke in the cabin.

"I was right on the verge of getting everybody off the airplane," he said Tuesday. "The plane was so heat-soaked that it was going to be warm until we got to altitude."

Nothing like bakng inside a metal cylinder. I can only imagine that the beer farts would smell better than sweat hogs that came off of that plane. My body is much more tolerant of cold than heat, so I would be afraid that there would have been a 6'2" hole in the side of the plane. Maybe then, the air could start flowing again.