KLM Flying Dutchman - KLM 606 - Landing gear problem

SFO - AMS 7/22/07
Left SFO and around Sacramento the pilot informed that the front landing gear was still down. Dumped fuel and landed safely back at SFO.
Flight was later cancelled with passengers getting meal certs and hotel. However, bags not returned as they did not want to "unsecure" the lower part of the plane. Told flight will leave tomorrow 1 hour later than the usual 606 with the same plane.

Told to call NW telno to check on status of flight tomorrow. Not sure why they did not try and re-route some of us and held our luggage hostage. Perhaps all will go well, but if tomorrow does not pan out, that is a loss of 2 days.

Would KLM fly another plane out from AMS or route LAX/YVR flights through SFO to pick us up - worst case? Or would they fly a NW spare plane in from a domestic locale? We'll see.....

The aircraft in question, PH-BFG, will be repaired and will fly back the original batch of passengers. Monday's KL606 will operate with a different aircraft, likely PH-BFB, and so there will be two KLM departures within an hour at SFO.

route LAX/YVR flights through SFO to pick us up - worst case?

I would think that this time of the year all flights between US/Canada and Europe are 99% full, so re-routing flights will not solve the problem.

The aircraft in question, PH-BFG, will be repaired and will fly back the original batch of passengers. Monday's KL606 will operate with a different aircraft, likely PH-BFB, and so there will be two KLM departures within an hour at SFO.

KLM 606 part deux scheduled to depart today at 9pm instead of 4pm. Not sure if the late departure is due to time needed for repairs or if crew requires 24 hours rest.

Hm. I've never heard that they did not release the luggage. Not releasing the luggage will mean additional costs as you can probably declare the cost of some underwear and maybe a shirt.
Also being stranded without luggage is pretty inconvenient.
Thinking of it, I doubt if it would work. If only one pax does not show up on the next days flight they have to open the luggage storage anyway to unload that luggage (or wouldn't they consider it a security risk if the pax originally was on board and didn't come for the 2nd attempt).

I've never heard about planes being rerouted to pick up stranded passengers.
Normally what they would/could do is reroute people using local flights. E.g.
book a local flight from SFO to LAX.

Btw: not releasing the luggage does also make it hard to impossible to reroute e.g. the business class people (and maybe the plats).

Btw: not releasing the luggage does also make it hard to impossible to reroute e.g. the business class people (and maybe the plats).

:confused: What does class of service or elite status have anything to do with this?

:confused: What does class of service or elite status have anything to do with this?

Generally when a whole plane has to be rerouted not everyone can get on the same alternative. Some alternatives leave early, some later, some have stopovers etc.

It is my perception that if you are traveling in business class or have an FB status, you will be on the top of the list when it comes to getting the best connection. This might sound unfair, but as they have to select passengers to get on the best alternative, it is quite understandable that the best customers are selected first.

(and I have been there, and saw that business class and FB were handled first, when it came to arranging hotel rooms and when it came to rerouting)

KLM 606 left 7/23 at 9pm with no issue.

Same plane, same crew, etc. - new landing gear.

KLM handled it very well:
- $15 meal vouchers
- Hotel stay
- $250 flight voucher or 25k miles on NWA Worldperks for the inconvenience

Hotel stay was not ideal given they would kick you out around 1pm and the flight was not until 9pm - I went home instead. Everyone was re-booked for connections and bags arrived fine.

I mentioned re-routing of planes as an option as I once had AS fly me from IAD to DCA to pick-up passengers stranded by a plane out of service on our way to SEA.

KLM 606 left 7/23 at 9pm with no issue.

Same plane, same crew, etc. - new landing gear.

KLM handled it very well:
- $15 meal vouchers
- Hotel stay
- $250 flight voucher or 25k miles on NWA Worldperks for the inconvenience

Hotel stay was not ideal given they would kick you out around 1pm and the flight was not until 9pm - I went home instead. Everyone was re-booked for connections and bags arrived fine.

You think this is sufficient compensation?

The flight dpearts 29 hours late.

You have to leave the hotel 8 hours before departure.

$15 meal voucher. What? That is rediculous.

And then $250 travel voucher? That just ensures that you fly with them again. What happens if you don't want to fly KLM again? The voucher is only of any benefit if you would be flying KLM in the future. In other words, you only see the value of the voucher if and when you book another ticket. Until that point the voucher is worthless, and therefore it is no compensation at all.


I would not be happy at all.

You think this is sufficient compensation?

The flight dpearts 29 hours late.

You have to leave the hotel 8 hours before departure.

$15 meal voucher. What? That is rediculous.

And then $250 travel voucher? That just ensures that you fly with them again. What happens if you don't want to fly KLM again? The voucher is only of any benefit if you would be flying KLM in the future. In other words, you only see the value of the voucher if and when you book another ticket. Until that point the voucher is worthless, and therefore it is no compensation at all.


I would not be happy at all.


I guess I am just used to getting nothing when this happens domestically, so it felt like a jackpot. I should mention that the $250 vouchers were being handed out like candy - business class received 3 of them. To your point, only good on the same airline NW/KLM, but I actually like and prefer KLM.

I've had this a few times. Never got meal vouchers. Always got dinner + hotel + breakfast + (if appropriate) lunch. Beverages (apart from maybe a soft drink) were at one's own expenses. Also got some phone credit ($10 or so).
Then again never got a voucher.
Note that this all happened abroad. I never had this problem when leaving in AMS (my home country), although I have been transferred to a different flight once or twice.

Hotel checkout depends on location and the agreement KLM has with the hotel.
Btw although the flight left at 9 pm, I understood it was bound to leave 1 hr after the regular flight (which I seem to recall to be around 4 pm)

my wife took kl 606 25/7, 2 hrs late, though it landed only 30 mins behind schedule in AMS. while running flytetrax i noticed that the flight on 24/7 left 4 hrs late (landing 3 hrs late) and figured that explained the cascading delay. but obviously the delays began with the 22/7 flight.

meanwhile, i was looking forward to flying the new nw DTW-BRU direct route, but my connecting PDX-DTW was cancelled. NW rerouted me all over the place but finally i will just go to AMS via MSP; NW's agent claimed the KL plat benefit of domestic upgrades no longer existed, but when i checked in online i was automatically put on the waitlist.

i guess the MSP-AMS A330 is nicer than the 757 they fly on DTW-BRU.

I guess I am just used to getting nothing when this happens domestically, so it felt like a jackpot. I should mention that the $250 vouchers were being handed out like candy - business class received 3 of them. To your point, only good on the same airline NW/KLM, but I actually like and prefer KLM.

if this happens domestically and you arrive 29 hours late, I sure hope there will be more than $250 compensation and $15 food. This is the airlines fault. this is not bad weather in SFO.
Continental once had a problem with EWR-TLV and was delayed 9 hours. we got hotel, food voucher $12 and $300 travel voucher.
and yes, business class and Plats/Golds were taken care of first.