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Oops... CUN-JFK pax skip customs and leave airport [and yet again]

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Oops... CUN-JFK pax skip customs and leave airport [and yet again]

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Old Nov 23, 2015, 6:52 am
  #1  
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Oops... CUN-JFK pax skip customs and leave airport [and yet again]

Surprised that this doesn't happen more often. Flight apparently arrived as a domestic flight and passengers just walked out.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2443629

Then the harassment started with AA telling everyone to return to JFK. LOL.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 7:04 am
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There was a similar instance a year or so ago with DL at JFK, inbound from LHR. I believe it was a lightly loaded (~70 pax) on a 764.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 7:34 am
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Originally Posted by SFO777
Surprised that this doesn't happen more often. Flight apparently arrived as a domestic flight and passengers just walked out.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2443629

Then the harassment started with AA telling everyone to return to JFK. LOL.
So who is ultimately responsible for this? Did the ground traffic controller send them to domestic? Should the Capt. have said that they are an Intl. arrival? Who gets fined here? BTW, what happens to the people who just left and didn't go back and go thru I&C? Wouldn't that cause problems in the future when they try to leave the country in the future?
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 7:44 am
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Heard about this on the radio this morning and had a chuckle. All the hype/hoop about Homeland Security and something like this happens.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 7:54 am
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Sounds like an AA screw-up. Wonder if this was just a case of the GA forgetting to close the domestic gate door instead of funneling pax downstairs to customs. Or did the plane arrive at a domestic only gate?

What a PIA and expense to have to return to JFK, which all but 6 pax apparently did. What about pax that connected on to other cities?
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 7:58 am
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Originally Posted by SFO777
Surprised that this doesn't happen more often. Flight apparently arrived as a domestic flight and passengers just walked out.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2443629
May be this is a trial for the same set up as in Schengen countries but instead with Mexico and may be later on Canada would join
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 9:00 am
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Whats interesting is their bags would have been dropped at customs, not domestic so it would have also raised some eyebrows.

Ill bet you the 6 had only carryon luggage.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 9:11 am
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Originally Posted by UAPremierExec
Whats interesting is their bags would have been dropped at customs, not domestic so it would have also raised some eyebrows.

Ill bet you the 6 had only carryon luggage.
Agreed, anyone with checked bags would have had to be redirected back to clear immigration in order to get to the international arrival bag carousels.

I wonder if these 6 will try and make AA pay for their return transportation to JFK. I mean, it was AA's fault, but the passengers should also know they need to clear customs and they can't just walk away.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 9:20 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by UAPremierExec
Whats interesting is their bags would have been dropped at customs, not domestic so it would have also raised some eyebrows. I'll bet you the 6 had only carryon luggage.
But it sounds like all 150 pax left JFK including pax that had checked bags. Which makes me think that some AA employee simply screwed up and coded/designated the flight as domestic with the bags being delivered to the domestic carousels. If bags had been delivered to the customs carousels, a whole plane load of pax would have gone to domestic Baggage service about missing bags and perhaps a light bulb would have gone off. All in all, pretty funny except if you had to schlep back to JFK.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 9:22 am
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Does a US citizen have any obligation to return and be processed?
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 9:23 am
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Well, if anything, I wouldn't rely on the Daily News to suss out what actually happened. But an internal coding error might make sense, and would be the reason why the gate agent didn't set the doors to force the arriving passengers to route via customs.

Is this like whack-a-mole? They fix the problem that alerts them to an ETOPS flight, but now another problem pops up where they can't tell the difference between a domestic vs. international arrival? What's next?
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 9:40 am
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Originally Posted by Kate2015
Does a US citizen have any obligation to return and be processed?
Legally, everyone entering the country must go through immigration and customs. In the event of a screw-up on the part of a carrier, I suspect the onus is still on the traveler to comply with regulations (though AA might be on the hook for expenses incurred if, e.g., a passenger left on a connecting flight).
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 10:26 am
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Wouldn't it be pointless for them to have to return? The point of customs is to control who and what is coming into the country. Since they're already there, what is customs going to do?

Pax should be cleared automatically in this case, and JFK/DHS/AA can sort out the paperwork and blame internally.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 10:31 am
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Are AA employees telling them they are actually customs, etc. and not employees of the airline?
The passenger complained Saturday that agents have “been harassing me with phone calls — they’re coming from high-up people at American Airlines, (Transportation Security Administration) and customs . . . . They’re very aggressive.” Another passenger also said that agents had been reaching out constantly.
Are they telling the truth or attempting to coerce the remaining passengers to travel to JFK?
“They’re telling me that I am here illegally, that I’m trespassing!” the passenger said. “They said, ‘If you don’t come in Monday, we’re sending FBI agents to your house.’ ”
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 10:47 am
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Originally Posted by rjw242
Legally, everyone entering the country must go through immigration and customs. In the event of a screw-up on the part of a carrier, I suspect the onus is still on the traveler to comply with regulations (though AA might be on the hook for expenses incurred if, e.g., a passenger left on a connecting flight).
That was my second question - who pays to get people back to JFK if they're halfway across the country?
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