Man dies on 'extremely hot' flight

[Greg McDonald]

From NEWS.COM.AU:

An elderly Australian plane passenger endured "unbearable" conditions before dying on an Air France/Qantas flight to Singapore last night, according to reports.

The Boeing 777 plane took off from Paris and made an emergency landing in Bucharest, Romania, in a bid to help the seriously ill passenger.

But attempts to revive him failed.

Passengers were outraged by the hot conditions on board.

They said that while waiting for a delayed take-off from Paris the plane's air-conditioning failed and some 360 passengers sweated in temperatures estimated at more than 40 degrees, The Age reports.

A Melbourne lawyer on board described how the "unbearable" conditions in Paris got worse in Bucharest when the plane failed to start due to lack of power.

"The plane was extremely hot when we boarded," lawyer Ian Dunn was quoted as saying.

Passengers were stranded in Bucharest overnight and were furious when told that the Air France plane, which Qantas co-shares, would be using the same aircraft to fly them back to Paris to restart their journey.

Qantas has confirmed there was a death on the flight and that the plane had mechanical problems.

A Qantas spokeswoman told ninemsn the passenger had booked their ticket with Air France but that they could not confirm their nationality, citing customer confidentiality.