Narrative:

Our schedule was to fly two legs to jax all with the same aircraft. We picked up the aircraft with MEL 49-00-00 for the APU being inoperative. Outside temperatures were cool and the cabin temperature was fairly acceptable with no ground air conditioning cart. This was the second or third time in july that I had an aircraft with no APU. Enroute I sent a free text to our dispatcher requesting the manager be notified that operating this aircraft to jax would be a bad idea because of the heat. I received a response once we were on the ground that jax temperatures were cooler than our present location and that the aircraft would continue to operate. This was the second time in the last month I sent a suggestion to stop an aircraft from operating because of no APU and extreme heat and was ignored. After landing; we left the aircraft; cleared customs; and went to get dinner. After returning to the gate thirty minutes later; I discussed with the agent delaying boarding as long as possible to keep passengers out of the heat. Outside air temperature was 92F. Upon arriving at the aircraft; I found the rest of my crew sweating profusely with angry looks on their faces. Cabin temperature had risen to 95F and felt similar to a sauna at 90% humidity. The ground air conditioning cart was connected and working but had no cooling effect. Boarding the passengers with the aircraft in this condition would have been completely unsafe. Continuing to keep the crew in these conditions would also have been unsafe. Media reports sum up how bad the humidity was. A television meteorologist said; 'the amazon was the only place in the western hemisphere with a dew point comparable to our state on this day. The humidity reached record levels over the weekend; and relief could still be far off.' operating aircraft without APU's with ground air conditioning carts not strong enough for proper cooling is in direct violation of fom chapter 6; operational philosophy; part D passenger comfort. I could not find any section in the fom listing a maximum cabin temperature for boarding however one section states animals cannot be carried in the cargo compartments when temperatures are above 29C (85F) for all warm-blooded animals; except snub-nosed dogs and cats. Cabin temperatures are routinely exceeding this. Just like animals; humans cannot be exposed to extremely warm temperatures.after completing preflight duties and ground coordination; we accomplished the engine start; cooled the airplane; boarded the passengers; and operated the rest of the flight without incident. In my opinion; it is a safety hazard to our passengers and crew members to continue operating aircraft with no APU during the extreme summer heat with no plan to effectively cool the cabin when ground air conditioning cannot overcome the temperature. The planes should either be grounded or fixed. A max and min cabin temperature for boarding needs to be published. I also recommend another section being added to the supplementary procedures of aom volume 1 outlining a procedure to start an engine prior to boarding passengers for cooling or heating reasons.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An EMB170 Captain faulted his company's decision to operate an aircraft with a deferred APU to hot weather destinations.

Narrative: Our schedule was to fly two legs to JAX all with the same aircraft. We picked up the aircraft with MEL 49-00-00 for the APU being inoperative. Outside temperatures were cool and the cabin temperature was fairly acceptable with no ground air conditioning cart. This was the second or third time in July that I had an aircraft with no APU. Enroute I sent a FREE TEXT to our Dispatcher requesting the manager be notified that operating this aircraft to JAX would be a bad idea because of the heat. I received a response once we were on the ground that JAX temperatures were cooler than our present location and that the aircraft would continue to operate. This was the second time in the last month I sent a suggestion to stop an aircraft from operating because of no APU and extreme heat and was ignored. After landing; we left the aircraft; cleared customs; and went to get dinner. After returning to the gate thirty minutes later; I discussed with the agent delaying boarding as long as possible to keep passengers out of the heat. Outside air temperature was 92F. Upon arriving at the aircraft; I found the rest of my crew sweating profusely with angry looks on their faces. Cabin temperature had risen to 95F and felt similar to a sauna at 90% humidity. The ground air conditioning cart was connected and working but had no cooling effect. Boarding the passengers with the aircraft in this condition would have been completely unsafe. Continuing to keep the crew in these conditions would also have been unsafe. Media reports sum up how bad the humidity was. A television meteorologist said; 'The Amazon was the only place in the western hemisphere with a dew point comparable to our state on this day. The humidity reached record levels over the weekend; and relief could still be far off.' Operating aircraft without APU's with ground air conditioning carts not strong enough for proper cooling is in direct violation of FOM Chapter 6; Operational Philosophy; Part D Passenger Comfort. I could not find any section in the FOM listing a maximum cabin temperature for boarding however one section states animals cannot be carried in the cargo compartments when temperatures are above 29C (85F) for all warm-blooded animals; except snub-nosed dogs and cats. Cabin temperatures are routinely exceeding this. Just like animals; humans cannot be exposed to extremely warm temperatures.After completing preflight duties and ground coordination; we accomplished the engine start; cooled the airplane; boarded the passengers; and operated the rest of the flight without incident. In my opinion; it is a safety hazard to our passengers and crew members to continue operating aircraft with no APU during the extreme summer heat with no plan to effectively cool the cabin when ground air conditioning cannot overcome the temperature. The planes should either be grounded or fixed. A max and min cabin temperature for boarding needs to be published. I also recommend another section being added to the Supplementary Procedures of AOM Volume 1 outlining a procedure to start an engine prior to boarding passengers for cooling or heating reasons.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.