A Delta Air Lines flight to Georgia was forced to make an emergency landing in Texas after air conditioning problems caused six people to fall ill.
The plane, which was traveling from Monterrey, Mexico to Atlanta, touched down at Corpus Christi International Airport after crew members noticed the system was not functioning properly.
The problems led to half a dozen people feeling ill, an airport spokeswoman said. It is unclear whether they were passengers or crew, but officials said no passengers required medical attention.
Upon landing, the flight was met on the runway by the airport’s public safety division.
Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical services helped to bring the six affected people into air-conditioned spaces, spokeswoman Kim Bridger told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
She said the plane contained 71 passengers and four crew members, including a pilot.
The crew was apparently able to remedy the air conditioning problem and the plane left the airport about two hours later.
The emergency landing comes as airlines are shifting the timing of thousands of flights as they try to avoid delays while hauling millions of passengers from now through the Christmas weekend.
A Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis clogged roads around the airport and temporarily blocked access to one of the two terminals.
There were about 5,300 delays and 430 cancellations at around 8.15pm, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. That is double the number of normal cancellations.
The majority of flights canceled were smaller regional jets that carry 50 to 76 passengers.
More than 28,000 flights were scheduled for yesterday.
A typical day sees about 150 cancellations and 4,000 delays.
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