BA serves drunk pax until comatose, refuses to remove him from emergency exit
Feb 5, 2019, 5:30 am
#31
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By all accounts his seat neighbour was a saint. Being used as a pillow and having to sit surrounded by blood would even have tested my patience which I have a lot of.
Feb 5, 2019, 5:59 am
#32
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OP should complain to both BA and to the CAA. Keep the complaint narrow. This is not a run-of-the mill complaint about serving excessive amounts of alcohol, but rather a safety issue which affects OP and anyone else who would use that emergency exit. The passenger's age and all of the other issues relating to alcohol consumption are irrelevant.
OP having raised the issue onboard, it was almost certainly documented for the crew's own protection and the response to any review will simply be that the professionally-trained crew determined that it was safe to leave the drunk in his seat. Thus, in the end, nothing will likely happen. However, the fact that passengers are reporting these incidents may make CC think a bit harder in future and that is a good thing.
OP having raised the issue onboard, it was almost certainly documented for the crew's own protection and the response to any review will simply be that the professionally-trained crew determined that it was safe to leave the drunk in his seat. Thus, in the end, nothing will likely happen. However, the fact that passengers are reporting these incidents may make CC think a bit harder in future and that is a good thing.
Feb 5, 2019, 6:09 am
#33
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Im also curious to know how they cleaned the hand towels.. here at the hospital, everything that contains blood or anything of the ilk gets either thrown away and burnt or sterilised. I would dread to think that they just washed them as they would other hand towels and handed them to the next passenger.
Feb 5, 2019, 6:33 am
#34
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Im also curious to know how they cleaned the hand towels.. here at the hospital, everything that contains blood or anything of the ilk gets either thrown away and burnt or sterilised. I would dread to think that they just washed them as they would other hand towels and handed them to the next passenger.
I would be surprised if something very similar is not in place at BA for soiled items that can be readily disposed of.
Feb 5, 2019, 6:43 am
#35
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I was on a recent flight travelling in the exit row only to see all of the other 5 pax in the row be allowed to keep their personal headphones through the safety brief. I think this also is a safety issue that the CC should be addressing on all flights.
Feb 5, 2019, 6:50 am
#36
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This sort of story, which sadly does come up fairly often (e.g. Ryanair flight diverts due to drunk and rowdy passengers) concerns me because inevitably it'll result in the minority who cannot handle their alcohol or know when to stop ruining things for the rest of us. There have already been rumblings about banning or limiting alcohol availability in airports, and it wouldn't be that much of a leap before an airline either banned alcohol altogether or brought in a 1-2 drink limit. An increasing number of trains in Germany are now alcohol-free due to the actions of certain fuelled-up football fans, and of course we have dry trains in this country too (Scotrail after 21:00, Aberdeen - King's Cross on oil rig changeover day etc). One of life's great pleasures is sitting in a train or plane with a beer in hand watching the world go by, and I fear eventually the drunken idiots will have this pleasure removed from us permanently.
Feb 5, 2019, 6:51 am
#37
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Im also curious to know how they cleaned the hand towels.. here at the hospital, everything that contains blood or anything of the ilk gets either thrown away and burnt or sterilised. I would dread to think that they just washed them as they would other hand towels and handed them to the next passenger.
Feb 5, 2019, 8:12 am
#38
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Personally I would just drop it.
Youve raised it to the CC and then the CSD, in effect you are questioning their judgement, any investigation will ask them and they will recall that they woke the passenger prior to landing who confirmed (allbeit their travel partner confirmed on their behalf) of their fitness to stay in the seat.
It is very unlikely to result in any action from BA or the CAA unless you have any further evidence to refute CC’s actions as being appropriate.
I personallg would have taised thr matter sooner, particularly if he was comatosed following a head injury irrespective of the cause you may assume, he may actually need medical attention.
Youve raised it to the CC and then the CSD, in effect you are questioning their judgement, any investigation will ask them and they will recall that they woke the passenger prior to landing who confirmed (allbeit their travel partner confirmed on their behalf) of their fitness to stay in the seat.
It is very unlikely to result in any action from BA or the CAA unless you have any further evidence to refute CC’s actions as being appropriate.
I personallg would have taised thr matter sooner, particularly if he was comatosed following a head injury irrespective of the cause you may assume, he may actually need medical attention.
Feb 5, 2019, 8:19 am
#39
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This is a very serious matter. Such a high level of alcohol consumption on board should only be allowed if LPGS and JW Blue.
Feb 5, 2019, 10:16 am
#40
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There is no shortage of topics here on FT with opportunities for (welcome) humour and there are many, many occasions when a light-hearted approach can give valuable perspective to a discussion. I personally have never considered incidents which could potentially have a material impact on in-flight safety as one of them (though perhaps some other FT-ers do).
The vast majority of flyers - whether frequent or occasional - are aware that in certain rare scenarios, the efficient, timely, operation of emergency exits by those seated in the relevant area could very well prove crucial in protecting their own lives, and the lives of many fellow passengers.
It’s clear to me, from the account given by the OP, that the passenger in question was in no fit state to satisfy eligibility requirements for exit row seating. Ground and cabin crew are responsible for taking appropriate action if there is visible evidence that this is not the case, and I believe that on this particular flight there was negligence, coupled with a failure of duty.
Given the very unsatisfactory reaction by the CSM when the matter was raised by the OP, there is good reason to follow up via appropriate channels, as already suggested by several posters upthread.
Airlines rightly deserve recognition and praise when taking a rigorous, uncompromising, approach to flight safety ; but it is important that they are also held to account in cases where such rigour is lacking. This is one such case.
The vast majority of flyers - whether frequent or occasional - are aware that in certain rare scenarios, the efficient, timely, operation of emergency exits by those seated in the relevant area could very well prove crucial in protecting their own lives, and the lives of many fellow passengers.
It’s clear to me, from the account given by the OP, that the passenger in question was in no fit state to satisfy eligibility requirements for exit row seating. Ground and cabin crew are responsible for taking appropriate action if there is visible evidence that this is not the case, and I believe that on this particular flight there was negligence, coupled with a failure of duty.
Given the very unsatisfactory reaction by the CSM when the matter was raised by the OP, there is good reason to follow up via appropriate channels, as already suggested by several posters upthread.
Airlines rightly deserve recognition and praise when taking a rigorous, uncompromising, approach to flight safety ; but it is important that they are also held to account in cases where such rigour is lacking. This is one such case.
Feb 5, 2019, 10:30 am
#42
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Feb 5, 2019, 10:39 am
#44
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As noted, if nothing else, this sensitizes staff to the knowledge that they are watched.
Feb 5, 2019, 10:48 am
#45
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There is no shortage of topics here on FT with opportunities for (welcome) humour and there are many, many occasions when a light-hearted approach can give valuable perspective to a discussion. I personally have never considered incidents which could potentially have a material impact on in-flight safety as one of them (though perhaps some other FT-ers do).
The vast majority of flyers - whether frequent or occasional - are aware that in certain rare scenarios, the efficient, timely, operation of emergency exits by those seated in the relevant area could very well prove crucial in protecting their own lives, and the lives of many fellow passengers.
It’s clear to me, from the account given by the OP, that the passenger in question was in no fit state to satisfy eligibility requirements for exit row seating. Ground and cabin crew are responsible for taking appropriate action if there is visible evidence that this is not the case, and I believe that on this particular flight there was negligence, coupled with a failure of duty.
Given the very unsatisfactory reaction by the CSM when the matter was raised by the OP, there is good reason to follow up via appropriate channels, as already suggested by several posters upthread.
Airlines rightly deserve recognition and praise when taking a rigorous, uncompromising, approach to flight safety ; but it is important that they are also held to account in cases where such rigour is lacking. This is one such case.
The vast majority of flyers - whether frequent or occasional - are aware that in certain rare scenarios, the efficient, timely, operation of emergency exits by those seated in the relevant area could very well prove crucial in protecting their own lives, and the lives of many fellow passengers.
It’s clear to me, from the account given by the OP, that the passenger in question was in no fit state to satisfy eligibility requirements for exit row seating. Ground and cabin crew are responsible for taking appropriate action if there is visible evidence that this is not the case, and I believe that on this particular flight there was negligence, coupled with a failure of duty.
Given the very unsatisfactory reaction by the CSM when the matter was raised by the OP, there is good reason to follow up via appropriate channels, as already suggested by several posters upthread.
Airlines rightly deserve recognition and praise when taking a rigorous, uncompromising, approach to flight safety ; but it is important that they are also held to account in cases where such rigour is lacking. This is one such case.
It clearly wasn't so serious that the crew stopped serving them. It wasn't so serious that the passengers couldn't leave the aircraft unaided after the flight. It wasn't so serious that the OP felt a need to say something when they could have made a difference - leaving it until the last seconds before 'seats for landing' didn't really assist much when it was reported that one of them fell over halfway through the 5 hour flight. And it wasn't so serious that the OP asked to see the commander when the CSM fobbed him off.
Nobody is going to be 'held to account' here, as there insufficient evidence of anything for anyone to be held to account for.
I don't condone safety related issues but the most effective way of handling them is there and then, on the spot, not afterwards on FT.