Point of sale terminal battery on AS 17 catches fire
Oct 12, 2015, 3:45 pm
#32
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call the elite line or tweet @AlaskaAir, they should be able to re-add you, maybe. did a bunch of people bail on the flight meaning you might get into F?
Oct 12, 2015, 3:52 pm
#33
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This is, at best, a near miss. The difference between a Li+ battery that is smoking and one that is about to release thermal and chemical energy equal to 10X its weight in gasoline is truly the smallest of margins. There is *no* thermal runaway condition in a lithium battery that is minor in any way, and had it actually caught fire, we would presumably be discussing a very different outcome for the flight, as discharging every fire extinguisher onboard a 737 would not extinguish most Li+ battery fires.
The problem is (rarely) the OEM batteries in the device itself. The problem is the engineering quality of the "sleds", where who knows what brand of battery was used, or if the supply chain of the entire battery subsystem was legit.
Moral to the story: where there is "smoke", the risk of fire rapidly approaches 100%, and there is very little chance of successfully quenching a lithium battery full-on fire in the passenger compartment while at altitude.
The problem is (rarely) the OEM batteries in the device itself. The problem is the engineering quality of the "sleds", where who knows what brand of battery was used, or if the supply chain of the entire battery subsystem was legit.
Moral to the story: where there is "smoke", the risk of fire rapidly approaches 100%, and there is very little chance of successfully quenching a lithium battery full-on fire in the passenger compartment while at altitude.
Oct 12, 2015, 3:57 pm
#34
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Sadly the elite line says they can't change anything because the tickets are in a "used" status.
Oct 12, 2015, 4:03 pm
#35
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did AS fly out their own CSRs from Seattle or is DL still handling the flight? what time are you leaving, it's starting to get pretty late there.
Oct 12, 2015, 4:13 pm
#38
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will be interesting to see what they do, i bet there is a decent chance they fly those seats empty if they cannot reconcile who is supposed to be upgraded. that or it will be a free for all of sorts.
did AS fly out their own CSRs from Seattle or is DL still handling the flight? what time are you leaving, it's starting to get pretty late there.
did AS fly out their own CSRs from Seattle or is DL still handling the flight? what time are you leaving, it's starting to get pretty late there.
Edit: though I'm wondering if it would have been more efficient to fly them out from Newark or the nearest airport instead to start this seat assignment process before the plane even arrived.
Oct 12, 2015, 4:20 pm
#39
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Darn no first class. Apparently their contract says that pilots (and maybe crew?) get to be in first class first. So I think all the open seats got taken by them. The rep said that some volunteered to go in coach of their own volition.
If no point of sale terminals because Alaska removed all of them for inspection do we get free dinner?
. Or cash only?
To their credit Alaska kept a continuous supply to the gate of sandwiches and pizza throughout the afternoon
If no point of sale terminals because Alaska removed all of them for inspection do we get free dinner?
. Or cash only?To their credit Alaska kept a continuous supply to the gate of sandwiches and pizza throughout the afternoon
Oct 12, 2015, 4:27 pm
#40
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good luck getting out of there soon and thanks for all the info you have provided about this unique situation.
Oct 12, 2015, 4:30 pm
#41
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Darn no first class. Apparently their contract says that pilots (and maybe crew?) get to be in first class first. So I think all the open seats got taken by them. The rep said that some volunteered to go in coach of their own volition.
If no point of sale terminals because Alaska removed all of them for inspection do we get free dinner?. Or cash only?
To their credit Alaska kept a continuous supply to the gate of sandwiches and pizza throughout the afternoon
If no point of sale terminals because Alaska removed all of them for inspection do we get free dinner?
. Or cash only?To their credit Alaska kept a continuous supply to the gate of sandwiches and pizza throughout the afternoon
Oct 12, 2015, 4:31 pm
#42
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i'll speculate that the original crew flew the original plane to GEG after o/w inspection, that is where they will timeout, and another crew will move the plane back to SEA. [xxx] on the rescue inbound there will be an extra set of pilots to fly the new bird back, the FAs will deadhead out, and then work the flight back. perhaps they will bring a CSR or two as well.
Last edited by autumnmist; Oct 12, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Oct 12, 2015, 4:36 pm
#43
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And we're all boarded!! I should turn off my Li-Ion powered phone right? 
The rescue flight pilot says that he got called in on his day off and was like uhh I'm flying to Buffalo!!?!
Nice guy. He's giving his seat in first to Alaska Golds. I kid you not. He just got asked by a FA if he wanted an extra seat and he said no give it to one of the golds a few rows in front. (Not me but I'm short and small and have an aisle seat so F is more a perk than a major deal for me)
He also said original aircraft was fine except needed to replace 2 water and 2 xx fire extinguishers. But they flew it back out just to be cautious.
The rescue flight pilot says that he got called in on his day off and was like uhh I'm flying to Buffalo!!?!
Nice guy. He's giving his seat in first to Alaska Golds. I kid you not. He just got asked by a FA if he wanted an extra seat and he said no give it to one of the golds a few rows in front. (Not me but I'm short and small and have an aisle seat so F is more a perk than a major deal for me)
He also said original aircraft was fine except needed to replace 2 water and 2 xx fire extinguishers. But they flew it back out just to be cautious.
Oct 12, 2015, 4:56 pm
#45
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Was sitting in SEABR this morning waiting for 75 back home and saw that AS 17 was CANCELED (from Buffalo). I wondered what the hey, I missed the new city service. But this explains it. Thanks for all the updates.