PABLOCO

Hi guys, i wanna make a complain to AA and i dont know if this should be also send it to the FAA.
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I am private pilot in Chile, so safety is very important for me, also i fly a lot so i can compare experiences. This Saturday i flew from Cancun to Miami on the AA1536, this fly was operated on a 767 300. Since this was a short fly, i just book economy and since i have OWE i was able to pick seats on the MCE.

All was good, up to the moment of showing the safety info, they start the IFE info but just the monitors on the cealing where showing the info, so a few seats where not able to see this....about 30 secs after they start the system got reset.

At this moment they start the pushback, the system started again and they start the safety info again. This time all of the screens worked fine. But after like 45 seconds the system crash again....At this point engines where running and the tug was detached.

The crew rush to look for the demo kit so they could show they safety info the old way. The plane was moving at this point, i thinked the pilot asked to be park somewhere to make the security display and not to disturb the other planes on the ground... But no....they when head for the runway.

So the crew did a very short display of the safety of the plane. This was done on the J cabin and for the main Y section, but for the 14 people on MCE they just came showing how the belt looks closed (not even show how to used) and showed the oxigen mask... Nothing about the exits, or lifevest...then they show the safety card (not even say where you could find them) and that was all.

They did all of this on English, that i understand is the Airline base country language.... But this was a Fly from Mexico to Miami .... more people speak spanish in Miami than in Mexico. And half of the crew was Spanish speakers, so why not even a "Please look at the safety info in the card, this card is located in the seat pocket in front of you" on Spanish.


​​​​​​So is this normal in AA? Should i complain? I think (or i wanna belive) this is just some miss comunication, the cabin crew just didnt inform the pilots that they need it more time to secure the cabin (now i think about this they didnt.... I could just not put my belt and have my seat recline and nobody will had noticed). But still in an accident this could be fatal and can be solve so easy.




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trooper

Was there not a safety card at each seat? That is language independent being essentially cartons/diagrams....they are not exactly hard to find.... how about a bit of proactive reading on the part of the passengers? Seriously, if you don't know how to work a seatbelt, should you be leaving the house?

AANYC1981

PABLOCO

There was... But is a FAA rule to make a Safety briefing easy to understand and that reach all the flyers.

But OK, even if everyone read the card (almost nobody will even care about it) , the cabin was not checked before departure. So i could have a carry on or a bag in the emergency row and nobody will notice... Pretty sure that is not on the safety card
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If this normal or AA does not care about it....well i just take it as an anecdote........ And seat closer to the Emergency door next time, just in case.


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Dave Noble

What you seem to have stated is that a manual demonstration was performed before takeoff ; I was not aware that there is a requirement to do it in other languages

fotographer

Just wondering, by complaining what I you aiming to achieve.
I have flown all over the world on a slew of airlines... some do it well, so rush it, most times passengers dont even bother to pay attention
As you are a pilot, you would also be aware the chances of living amid a crash, land or sea

Uncle Nonny

You should not complain. This may sound crazy to you but many, if not most, people ignore the safety briefings. Those who do will most likely do a fine job of forgetting what they were briefed on should an emergency arise. I've seen FAs spring into action when emergencies arise. That's when it matters. It seems to me that they did every logical thing they could to brief the passengers on your flight about safety procedures. I have yet to hear of a flight being delayed because of this. I can imagine how long the tread on here would be if one were.

Beltway2A

The FAA points to this website: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org.../faa_hotlines/ for safety-related compliance issues. There's both a phone number and a web form.

PHL

Whether people pay attention or seat cards are in the pocket, the airline is required to give a briefing visible to all passengers.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-id...e14.3.121_1571

While the OP may be stretching it a bit to suggest that 14 people were not fully briefed, I don't know that a complaint is warranted for this one given the description of the events. In my gazillion flights on AA, US, and other USA based airlines I've never not been able to see the entire demonstration (by human or video), so no - this is not something that AA or any airline takes lightly. Sounds like a hurried crew on this particular flight.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

I've seen the safety demonstration done during taxi. I've even seen it stopped for take off and finished in air when the a/c got to the runway very quickly in airports like LGA.

TXguy

SteveinA2

Your chances of surviving an airline crash are much better than dying in said crash.

coolcoil

Yes, you should file a complaint. I would not expect this individual complaint to result in any action, but if nobody ever says anything, then standards keep slipping. While in my experience what you described is not widespread through AA, it can easily become so if flight crews come to realize that there is no expectation that they do the briefing well. That's just fundamental human behavior.

I know that many of us are complacent regarding the safety briefing that we have seen over and over, but that is a failing on our part. It is well understood by those who train for emergencies that there is nothing better than practice, but short of being able to do that, continual reinforcement is the next best thing.

Often1

Yes, do file a complaint. File it with FAA Flight Safety. You may also send it to AA's customer service, but that does not matter.

However, stick to what did and did not happen and do not argue about what should have been done. To be blunt, AA is not required to repeat the briefing in Spanish or any other language. While it may be good practice to do so on a departure from Mexico, there is no valid complaint when it does.

Not to criticize you because your English is decent, but you should have someone entirely fluent in English proofread what you send to FAA as misunderstandings are easy.

skywardhunter

File a complaint with the FAA. It is unacceptable for an airline not to fulfil its obligations under FAA regulations and it should be reported. I would also have asked to speak to the purser upon deplaning and mention it. I bring issues related to safety to the pursers attention where I feel it is warranted, in the past six months this has twice been related to pax standing up and opening overhead bins during taxi and crew not instructing them to be seated.