hi,
A bit new to reporting on incidents so I hope this is clear and put right...
On a recent flight in First (241) LHR-LAX once through boarding and settled into 1AK (not our pre assigned seats but cabin was empty
) there was an announcement by the Captain that some security check on the plane had to be redone and all passengers were asked to disembark and take all their belongings with – wait by the gate until this was completed
. We were told that this could take up to 2 hours so we made our way back to the lounge (long walk!) + some shopping to pass the time. I guess we did find this frustrating as its one thing a delayed flight but another having to disembark once settled in and waiting for refills
Anyway, cutting a long story short 1 1/2 hours later we re boarded and once again settled into 1AK. The next announcement by the Captain was about a further 20 minutes delay I think something to do with missing our takeoff slot
A few drinks later we were speeding on the runway with our noses glued to the windows watching the houses getting smaller and the cars shrink when suddenly the plane started to shake quite violently and a very loud noise in the cabin shifted our attention from the outside wonders to the inside bigger wonders! Mrs WT and I were both staring with great amazement at the wardrobe in front which had burst open with all its contents still flying out missing us by inches! We managed to close the doors holding them shut with our feet for a good 5 minutes until the plane settled and we could let go with out fear of further assault!
A few minutes after the first stage of takeoff one of the FA’s came in to check out what it was all about and the look on her face when she saw the cabin cluttered with all the contents of the wardrobe including so many cards, papers, small boxes and some of our belongings was very amusing!
Anyway, about an hour into the flight I was asked to fill in a comments form and did so and mentioned our frustrations with having to disembark and our concern for safety with the wardrobe issue. Putting humour aside I do think this is a safety hazard as if we were sitting in 2AK we would have def had things hitting us with possible injury. Really not sure why there can’t be some kind of safety latch as the csd said this has happened before… amazing that the cabin was empty only one other passenger in 3A.
I am not sure if it’s ok for me to post their reply to my comments here maybe someone could enlighten me? It was very polite and apologetic but a cnr in our hearts were hoping for a few miles to come our way as compensation to our stress and having to hold the wardrobe closed + we did help tidy the cabin a bit
. I have experienced high turbulence and ruff landings in the past but never had objects flying across my face, neither was I asked to get off the plane and back on almost 2 hours later in order for some security check to be redone + waiting for another 20 minutes for a takeoff slot.
I should mention that on this trip the crew were nothing short of excellent. Making them selves visible but not overbearing throughout the flight. We never waited for more then a few seconds for service and it was always very polite and friendly. The food too was very satisfactory although I was VERY disappointed with the VERY limited choice of decent whisky on board.
I am relatively new to loyalty flying and am silver heading for gold with BA as have recently started to understand reaping the rewards of channelling my flights into less carriers. I am not a regular First traveller this was a 241 redemption most my flights with BA are in Club or WT+ and in general am very happy camper with BA.
There are other suggestions and comments I have which I feel are little things that could make the flying experience with BA a bit more pleasurable particularly on the ground and in the lounges + spa facilities. I mostly try to travel light so don’t have so much experience with on ground check in or waiting for luggage. Not sure if it belongs here are not? Maybe a separate thread? or maybe all this really will get moved to trip reports??? Sorry if this is not where it belongs…
wow! never planned for this post to be so long!
Thanks
WT
P.S. is there any point writing back them? Not much more I could tell them that we didn’t. I guess in the past (with BA and other airlines) we have been some what compensated for much less. It feels like they just doing “there thing" not ignoring our comments but neither going out of their way to make us feel like we did have a very frustrating delay + the trouble of off loading and back on and a very frightening experience. Maybe as a 241 redemption we should not complain? I wouldn’t have thought so as it too is a reward for loyalty.