US Airways Dividend Miles - US Airways 'stowaway' mechanic arrested in Pittsburgh

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13781454

A US Airways mechanic has been arrested after allegedly stowing away on a flight from Florida to North Carolina, investigators have said.

The guy probably had flight benefits on us air and id90 on other airlines. Why on earth would he do that?? Short of smuggling something, I have no clue.

If he managed to sneak aboard the first flight, you'd think he'd be smart enough to do so for the second one.

From other sources, apparently this wasn't even a gear stowaway, but in the APU panel(?). Seems very odd and uncomfortable.

Sounds like more than meets the eye.

Insanity? or worse?

Just curious, will he earn Dividend Miles for this trip?

Just curious, will he earn Dividend Miles for this trip?

Yes and he should demand compenstation for the delay in getting to his destination.

Management is currently brainstorming to come up with ways to collect revenue for this space.

Why am I only reading about this in foreign news?

Why am I only reading about this in foreign news?

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette had an article:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11167/1154050-57.stm

And it was covered a lot in Charlotte:

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/US-Airways-Employee-123854939.html

http://www.wbtv.com/story/14906307/another-stowaway

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/28236402/detail.html

My thoughts.

First of all, just let me say I believe until all the facts are out, we can only speculate as to the reasons why this person did what he did.

From my viewpoint, the employee was pretty crazy or desperate to do what he did. He should be fired, but arrested? Not sure what his crime actually was. What law did be break if he had credentials? Not being smart. I just don't know what law(s) he actually broke. Is it illegal to stow away in the cargo as an employee of the company you work for or just against policy?

Having said that, it sounds like the employee may be a commuter that was bounced out of PIT and works in TPA. Also sounds like he may had lost his travel benefits and was trying to figure out how to get home on the cheap. The flight was probably full to CLT but open to PIT or flight TPA-PIT full if we have any. Once in CLT, he used someone's buddy pass to PIT.

Questions are:
1 Not how he got on the ramp as he WAS an employee, but how he got in the cargo bin and it closed without help. Was somebody involved?
2. When the bin was opened, who saw him and how come he wasn't turned in? Was someone involved on the other side?
3. Who gave him the pass? Why was there no suspicion from the employee giving the pass? Was he/she involved?

Sounds to me like there was some planing and more than one person involved.

I know it is difficult to commute, but this was just wrong. Work in TPA and live in PIT? Sorry, that's your choice. Was he desperate to get home because of a family issue? Still not worth the getting fired or arrested by doing this. Is the employee really emotionally ill or trying to get out of something because he got caught?

The press has made this a big deal about security. I don't feel the flight was threatened. Said employee did a stupid thing and must now pay the price.

Back in the day, employees did A LOT of crazy things to get their friends and employees where they needed to go. Those things are not kosher today.

I just hope this doesn't spoil the buddy pass policy for the rest of us. I do feel there should be a no fly employee list out there for any employee has lost their flight benefits and attempt to fly on an employee pass. This would prevent the second part of the flight from happening.

2. When the bin was opened, who saw him and how come he wasn't turned in? Was someone involved on the other side?


This is what I was wondering about. It would be really hard to evade detection at that stage. I would not be surprised if there was someone assisting, prearranged. And perhaps this wasn't the first commute of this nature.

This is what I was wondering about. It would be really hard to evade detection at that stage. I would not be surprised if there was someone assisting, prearranged. And perhaps this wasn't the first commute of this nature.

I agree.

He was not in the cargo bin,

He was not in the cargo bin,

Can you explain the areas in the belly for us, coachrowsey, so we can all understand?

Can you explain the areas in the belly for us, coachrowsey, so we can all understand?

http://www.eglobaltravelmedia.com.au/airline/crazed-mechanic-arrested-after-surviving-ride-in-aircraft-hell-hole.html

TPA-CLT is only an hour or so flight, but it's still amazing that this fool survived. Maybe enough of him got frozen that he'll be eligible for honorable mention in the next Darwin Awards.

As an A&P mechanic, I find it extremely unlikely this person survived an hour at cruise altitude in the "hell hole", an unpressurized compartment aft of the rear pressure bulkhead which houses, among other structure, the jackscrew transmission that moves the horizontal stabilizer up and down.

Unless equipped with supplemental oxygen, (and cold weather gear that'd make Sir Edmund Hillary jealous), that mechanic would expire from hypoxia in less than fifteen minutes and be stiff as a mannequin for the afterlife.

Additionally the access hatch to the jackscrew compartment is about 7-8 feet off the ground on a 737; in the mtc. check environment, I recall entering that area with the aid of a 6 ft. ladder. It would be an impressive gymnastic feat for our depressed and despondant mechanic to hurl himself up that distance without the aid of such equipment.

I think we will eventually confirm that this person stowed away in the aft cargo compartment, which can be opened from the inside, and his exit from - assuming he was wearing his uniform- would not be implausible to go unnoticed on the busy line at CLT.

As an A&P mechanic,...

Welcome to FlyerTalk, tholin ^:)

Thank you for an excellent first post!

From my viewpoint, the employee was pretty crazy or desperate to do what he did. He should be fired, but arrested? Not sure what his crime actually was. What law did be break if he had credentials? Not being smart. I just don't know what law(s) he actually broke. Is it illegal to stow away in the cargo as an employee of the company you work for or just against policy?I'm pretty sure that anyone that deliberately hides on an aircraft to get a ride is a stowaway, regardless of whether they work for the airline or not. US certainly didn't authorize him hitching a ride in the cargo bin.

All I can say is that I am so thankful we have this TSA process in place that feels up old women and young boys. Certainly those terrorists are too dumb to impersonate or even infiltrate the airlines or a service company or even the TSA themselves. Seriously, let's all breath easier knowing that this incident in no way demonstates the absurdity of the frisking feeling uppers and x-ray machines.