Las Vegas airport in chaos as extreme heat forces pilots to leave passengers behind

Las Vegas travelers hit an unexpected jackpot over the weekend — up to $2,500 just to go absolutely nowhere.Brutal desert heat threw Harry Reid International Airport into chaos, delaying thousands of passengers and forcing airlines to plead with dozens of flyers at a time to surrender their seats because fully loaded planes were too heavy to safely take off.A staggering 580 delays were recorded from Friday through Sunday as temperatures scorched Sin City at 114, 113 and 112 degrees respectively.Friday was the worst, with 284 delays affecting roughly one-third of scheduled departures.Published reports showed airlines dangling travel vouchers worth up to $2,500 to coax enough passengers off planes and get them into the air.One traveler named Trish told KSNV that around half the passengers on her United Airlines flight were asked to get off because of weight restrictions.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story “We got offered $2,500 to volunteer to deplane because of weight restrictions due to the weather, so that’s something I’ve never experienced before,” she said.Trish arrived at the airport at 1 p.m.on Friday and did not make it home until around 8 a.m.

on Saturday.A viral video from an American Airlines gate captured an agent asking for a whopping 50 volunteers to five up their seats as the temperature outside hit 114 degrees.Another American Airlines flight Saturday asked 32 passengers who were already seated to voluntarily deplane before it could take off, according to FOX5.“So it’s either 32 people decide to alter their plans, or all of us are going to alter our planes,” Texas-bound passenger Jared Guynes told the station.“This is like sensational.Like this is crazy.”The flight eventually departed after enough passengers agree...