D/FW AIRPORT — American Airlines issued a jet-sized apology Friday after weather problems at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport left hundreds of passengers stranded on the tarmac.

Travelers on more than a dozen American Airlines flights were stuck inside parked aircraft for hours in direct violation of parent company AMR's policy.

Passengers are now demanding answers; they want to know how this could happen after the company had taken precautions to ensure that something like this couldn't happen.

One day after the slushy winter weather grounded flights at D/FW, American Airlines admits it violated its own policy and left passengers on at least 17 planes stranded on the tarmac.

"We weren't able to physically move aircraft," explained American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith.

Last year, after passengers complained of being abandoned in parked aircraft for hours during bad weather, American pledged to not do it again.

A plane wouldn't sit more than four hours away from any gate.

But that's exactly what happened on Thursday as 17 planes at D/FW surpassed American's own self-imposed limits, stranded in the snow.

"They knew we weren't going anywhere," said Linda Plank, one of the stranded passengers. "We got peanuts. We'd been on the plane for about four hours and 45 minutes and we finally got peanuts? Why bother?"

Thursday's weather wasn't just frustrating — it was also dangerous. American Airlines said one of its MD-80 twin-engine jets trying to take off in all the bad weather apparently sucked slush and ice into an engine, damaging the aircraft. The pilot aborted takeoff and returned to the gate. No one was hurt.

"Those that are most severely impacted we are reaching out to, apologizing, offering them compensation depending on the situation they were in," Smith said.

It was a situation nobody wanted to be in.

American Airlines said it would issue travel vouchers valued up to $500 for passengers who were left sitting on parked aircraft.

American also said it would reasses what when right and what went wrong, but added that no one in the company would face disciplinary action.

E-mail jwhitely@wfaa.com