mrlasssen

+2

mrlasssen

You are very understanding to people's needs, are you a physicist?

hull22

Saw an episode of the Simpsons today that reminded me of this incident.


Later in the episode but not in the clip is this, reminiscent of the Dr. Dao incident:

GUWonder

Yes. "You're not supposed to be out of your seat and unbuckled when the seatbelt sign is on, and the rule is their for your own safety too." Then continue on as usual without the whole show of the airline calling in law enforcement and forcing a longer delay and other hassles.

Compassionate responses become less likely when empathy levels are low. And the airline's lack of empathy for consumers shows up in so many ways, including in this circumstance.

RooseveltL

I have been on a plane which had a bomb threat note found in the air and after landing our flight/passengers/crew were quarantine for 4 hrs in an empty terminal at MSY.

So NO from a safety perspective - I'd rather the airline prevent a hiccup in the air as we have witness in a few planes taken out of the sky in Europe/Asia! I'm not mad as crew typically secures & locks the restroom after full check prior to take-off and landing. Either passengers knew how to unlock or flight attendant didn't do their job but I'd argue if this guy was 'profile' as a threat - would you have a problem with it returning to its gate?

RooseveltL

Hmmmmmm... JFK airport has had two incident a few years back whereas plane hit another plane during backup from gate and separate a plane was side-swiped during taxi. In both scenarios - there were passengers claiming injury including one guy who was standing up. Whether accurate or false just remember Harrison Ford landed his prop plane on incorrectly strip uncomfortably close to a commercial airliner so whether 10 mph or whatever - it is best to follow safety first.
UPDATE - Links to incident posted a few responses back so already addressed.

Anyone claiming this was a lengthy delay - I suggest you try flying into LGA, JFK or EWR during weather or ATC hold. My personal experience - a plane in a holding pattern so long to land at LGA from ORD - we were rerouted to Albany because of potential fuel shortage. During the circling (under 10,000) seat belt sign on so discourage to get up. Unlike other larger airports LGA doesn't really have the HOLDING PIT so you are simply on active taxi and delays have been known to exceeds 2 hrs on take-off. In most scenarios the pilot/crew will allow quick bathroom runs (especially if not under 8 for take-off) but I've seen so many passengers queue for restroom we lost our place in line - so I don't think it is always FA or crew ignoring common sense - reality they are using common sense as you don't know if this guy is doing #1 or #2 and can't have a plane take-off if a guy is on the can post-Mexican/Indian/Chinese fusion buffet lunch.

Widgets

Next time you're a passenger in a car, try standing up through the sun roof while the car is driving even 20mph on residential streets and consider if you still think it's totally okay to be standing up or even walking in a moving vehicle.

Fred 3

The more I think of this, I have to ask the question, could Delta ( or any other airline) do anything that would not end up in a sure losing situation? If you stick to the official rules, then problems could happen with a passenger, and people would be all up in arms about some person going the bathroom or something on themselves. But if you let the person get up, what stops anyone else from getting up, and how do you draw the line? Its really easy to say Delta should have done this or that, but it is a split second decision, and probably in about 99% of the time the airline loses.

davetravels

Sorry, but, this specific argument simply doesn't hold any water. People stand all the time on city buses, trams, trolleys and subways. Sometimes they're moving slowly - sometimes fast on highways.

ATOBTTR

Vehicles in which people are standing (such as shuttle buses, subway cars, trams,) usually have handrails or something to hold on to for those who are standing. An airplane does not. I see people fall down frequently on these types of transportation because they aren't holding on when the vehicle/bus/train starts, stops, or turns or hits a bump.

Also, just because people do something that is less safe elsewhere doesn't mean another industry should adopt it.

davetravels

I never said the industry should change the rules. I simply said that the SPECIFIC argument of comparing a person standing up thru the sunroof of a moving car doesn't hold any water because people are standing on moving vehicles ALL THE TIME!

MSPeconomist

OT, but Dr Dao didn't violate any rule. He was boarded and in his seat. None of the reasons listed in UA's CoC to justify removal of a revenue passenger from a flight applied. Moreover, the guys who dragged him off were not police officers.

GUWonder

The best practice when standing up or walking down plane aisles works better than on moving buses and trains when it's standing room only for some and may often be done without available handrails/handbars/straps; and this involves hands placed against the overhead bins and holding on that way on planes.

Kevin AA

If someone really has to go, he/she should ring the call button, and then the FA can escort the pax to the lav and back. Or alternatively, the pax doesn't ring the call button but just gets up anyway, then the FA makes an announcement. People don't take this action/announcement as some kind of free-for-all to walk around the plane. That is completely unrealistic. I doubt it's ever happened in the history of aviation (and I'm excluding situations like the NW blizzard in DTW where people sat on planes for hours; just normal operations where there's still 5 minutes left before take-off).

pvn

How does anything the crew did in this particular situation have anything to do with preventing ... whatever it is you are scared of (russians shooting your plane down???)

What wouldn't qualify as a "threat" in this bizzare evaluation? Was Dr. Dao a threat to "take a plane out of the sky"??