Just when I thought I'd seen it all....

Last evening, I was on a Saab 340 flight from MSP to RST. We boarded in time, but then I heard the FA say to the pilot that "we can't leave without that card." Turns out we were short one of the emergency cards that they put in the seat pockets, and FAA regulations prohibit flying short. It seemed kind of odd because the flight was only 2/3 full and there were plenty of cards for us, but I understand the return flight could very well be full. Fine so far right?

Well, it turns out that NOBODY had a clue as to where they could find another card. I could hear the pilot talking to MSP Ops, then tell the FA "Ops says they don't have any." The GA comes on board and says the same. Then it gets really weird. They start talking about trying to get a spare off another Saab...but it turns out that a whole batch had just taken off and we were the only one that they could see at a gate. Seemed odd that the GA couldn't check on their computers where others were for sure -- she just kept looking out the door on the jetbridge, craning her neck to look over the CRJ next door to see if a Saab was at a gate. Finally, they think there might be one on the B concourse (we were on A), so someone runs over there and comes back empty handed -- apparently, they had just departed. Then, we hear propellers and everybody perks up again! Hooray! A Saab is here, a Saab is here! Someone goes over (again to B) and snatches a card, and we finally depart, 30 minutes late.

Now I fly enough to know not to get worked up over a 30-minute delay, and understand the need to follow FAA rules. But in this one, the cause of the delay and the Larry-Curly-Moe routine trying to fix it was just ridiculous. I have never seen a group so tragically unprepared to deal with a problem. Anyone ever been through something like that??