Originally Posted by
Annerk
They really dropped the ball by holding planes on the tarmac until it started to get dark. They should have begun evacuating them with stairs to buses, cleared the terminal immediately and allowed cars to enter to pick up but not allowed any drop offs, and cancelled all flights for the remainder of the day within an hour of the power going out when they still hadn't figured out the cause.
I agree that was a bad call. They should have started the evac when the power didn't come in in ~30 minutes. I'm actually surprised the Airport Authority didn't force an evac. Seems like it would be a liability for them not to...
It will be interesting to see A) What caused this, B) What (if anything) DL learns from this. (i.e. should we have an evac plan after 5/15/30/60 etc. minutes?)
Originally Posted by
Annerk
The whole thing is a mess and jobs should be lost top down for not having adequate plans and procedures. They violated the Federal DOT rule about three hour tarmac delays, and by the time they actually started to unload people it was way too little, too late. I'm guessing the power will be back on by the time they finish getting people off planes, and can't even imagine how long it will take to process the heavies that landed from other countries through CBP with no power, computers, or by the looks of it, lights.
Relevant parts bolded below for your learning pleasure. (Source transportation.gov)
"The new rule prohibits U.S. airlines operating domestic flights from permitting an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours without deplaning passengers,
with exceptions allowed only for safety or security or if air traffic control advises the pilot in command that returning to the terminal would disrupt airport operations. U.S. carriers operating international flights departing from or arriving in the United States must specify, in advance, their own time limits for deplaning passengers, with the same exceptions applicable."
I think one could very easy say it's a safety and security issue to deplane a mile from the terminal with active runways. I also imagine ATC couldn't get them to gates to deplane because other planes couldn't leave said gates.
Originally Posted by
Annerk
Not even having adequate emergency lighting is something that the ATL officials need to address--and if the leadership is too stupid to have them, along with staff trained in emergency operations--they need to be replaced with trained chimpanzees who would likely be better at doing their job.
Don't know (or really care) what ATL's local code is on emergency lights, but they don't have to last forever (usually an hour or so). They're designed to provide enough light for an evac, not for regular operation. Hence why they're called
...wait for it... Emergency Lights.
Originally Posted by
Annerk
By the way, sending passengers down emergency slides is so utterly unacceptable unless the plane is on fire (or similar) that there simply are no words. If that is the case, then some pilots themselves have some serious explaining to do, and are probably unfit for duty.
Yes, I suppose it's better to leave them on dark airplanes with no working lavs or ventilation, for hours? days? Seriously?? Thinking FAIL.