AA 281 Ran Out of Water on Board
May 19, 2014, 9:09 pm
#1
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AA 281 Ran Out of Water on Board
Yesterday, AA 281 (DFW > ICN) ran out of water mid-Pacific. There wasn't any water for washing hands (or making tea or coffee) for us on board. Thank goodness, the blue stuff in the commodes was there! How does this happen? Were the tanks not filled upon departure?
May 20, 2014, 12:26 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 2013
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As to the running out of water in mid flight, if it wasn't caused by a slow leak of the water tanks then the Crew Chief on the departure gate is going to be in trouble. It is his responsibility to make sure the water tank on all international flights is filled to the brim. He then has to make a notation in sabre that the tank was filled and then has to deliver a signed copy that the water tank is filled to the Captain.
BTW on domestic flights the water tanks are only filled to either 25 or 50% to save fuel.
May 20, 2014, 1:45 am
#3
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You are correct, of course, about the vacuum sucker. I was trying to be humorous.
May 20, 2014, 4:56 am
#4
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It does happen. Happened to me on a CX flight HKG-JFK when they had to bring in a substitute aircraft after we boarded and were deplaned due to a mechanical problem. They were hurrying and simply forgot to check. Water ran out less than halfway there. We were all given certs for on-board purchases from duty free good for a year. IIRC Y got USD $100, J for $150 and F got $200.
May 20, 2014, 6:31 am
#5
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It does happen. Happened to me on a CX flight HKG-JFK when they had to bring in a substitute aircraft after we boarded and were deplaned due to a mechanical problem. They were hurrying and simply forgot to check. Water ran out less than halfway there. We were all given certs for on-board purchases from duty free good for a year. IIRC Y got USD $100, J for $150 and F got $200.
May 20, 2014, 6:44 am
#6
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It's common for foreign and especially Asian carriers to give out certs for duty-free as customer service gestures when something goes wrong.
May 20, 2014, 9:33 am
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May 20, 2014, 10:05 am
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May 20, 2014, 10:14 am
#9
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I've been on several flights to Japan (but never from Japan) over the last decade that ran out of water. Annoying, but not a safety issue.
May 20, 2014, 11:47 am
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May 20, 2014, 12:28 pm
#12
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Is there a water gauge on board? So they can tell if usage is above the norm, or if there is a potential leak? That way they can ask people to conserve water, which may alleviate the situation considerably.
May 20, 2014, 1:07 pm
#13
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I was on an AA 777-200 flight to Japan once, and the flight attendant panel had been left with the lav water chart showing. IIRC, there were something like 3 tanks with fresh water, and they were all at what I thought seemed to be dangerously low levels, like 20-25% full, even though we were only half way through the flight. I asked the nearby FA what happened if all the tanks got empty, and he responded rather matter-of-factly: "The lavatories stop working" but he didn't seem to think we were in imminent danger of that happening. As I thought about it a bit more, it occurred to me that the lav use is probably not evenly spread out through the flight. On those long 12+ hour flights where the large meal is served after takeoff regardless of time of day, I suspect there's a burst of lav activity in the period immediately after the meal, and then relatively light use for the rest of the flight as most people are sleeping.
May 20, 2014, 1:33 pm
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I don't know but it's happened to me twice in last 2 years on LHR-DFW. The first time it happened, they diverted us to ORD where I was still sleeping and suddenly woken up when we hit the ground. Should have seen the look on my face when I looked out the window. AA threw me on UA Y to PHX after I was in paid J. I got measly 10K miles for it.
May 21, 2014, 1:55 am
#15
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To be honest, I don't know what AA is doing with the A321T water tank. The rule back when I was at AA was wide bodies always had their tanks filled to the brim. 757 and 737 got 50% domestically, 75% internationally for 737, 100% internationally for 757, and 25% for the mad dogs. Being based at DFW I have no idea how the coast hubs handled the transcontinental flights.