In what has been called a "nightmare,"' Virgin Atlantic airlines passengers heading from Orlando, Florida, to London, England, were on board a plane that then sat on the tarmac for two hours in sweltering heat before it was canceled earlier this month.

It was reported that the air conditioning on the aircraft, loaded with families and children, had failed. Temperatures in the plane were so high that passengers were collapsing and some were vomiting before the officials decided to cancel the flight. Paramedics had to remove some of the passengers from the aircraft.

The Aug. 8 flight was rescheduled on another plane the following day that then experienced problems while traveling over the Atlantic Ocean and had to be diverted to Shannon, Ireland, where the plane was met with emergency vehicles. It was reported that smoke had inexplicably entered the cabin. Passengers said that they total delay amounted to least 30 hours.

Many of the passengers were visitors to world-famous Disneyworld that finally landed in Gatwick, England, Aug. 10.

The Virgin Atlantic aircraft was an Airbus 330-300.