PRS

Based on the coverage of this recent incident at YVR the circumstances appear truly tragic and senseless - a passenger unable to speak English and arriving in Canada for the first time waits for his mother at the baggage carousel for over nine hours unaware that it is a secure area she cannot access. Meanwhile the mother is right outside the secure area, unable to see her son and unable to locate or contact him despite making repeated inquiries with airport staff.

I haven't been to YVR airport but the layout sounds similar to baggage areas at YYZ and others across the country.

Wouldn't having a clear window between the public concourse and the secure baggage area (with or without some way of talking from one side to the other) prevent any such problem in the future, as well as making it easier for all passengers to coordinate with those who are meeting them? Does such a setup exist at any airports already (Canadian or otherwise)?

Sanosuke

At YVR, the baggage claim carosuels are seperated from the public by a pretty number of walls and sliding doors. Also all people leaving this area go through a common exit which leads to the connections area and then to the public greeting area.

Sanosuke!

Wally Bird

Even with clear glass doors there would be no direct line-of-sight from the carousels where he supposedly was all the time and the landside waiting/greeting area.

Leaving aside the RCMP conduct, the YVR authorities need to find out how it was possible for someone to spend 10 hours wandering around the arrivals area without arousing any curiosity or concern from Customs or other staff. And why, despite his mother's attempts to get help locating him, no YVR employee seems to have done a damn thing.

Perhaps they are so focussed on "security" that common customer service is a thing of the past .

Jay71

I have NOT followed a lot of the articles on this story but I agree that this reflects very poorly on YVR.

However, I really can't see how the heck someone cannot make it out from the arrivals hall to the outside. Although, I think the signage sucks, wouldn’t you emulate everyone else and just follow the flow? Was his luggage missing or something?

BTW, I forget, past the arrivals hall in the connections area, is the connections area separated from the greeting area by clear glass windows or did they block them up?

YVR Cockroach

It's still clear glass in this area. I think generally, customs doesn't want you to see what is going on.

FWIW, the only airport I remember where those arriving internationally could be seen from landside was at the old Paya Lebar airport (and terminal building) in Singapore.

Wally Bird

As I understand it (from the media) his mother had told him she would meet him at the baggage return. Now most (all ?) of us here realise this would not be possible where customs are involved, but just because these two were not familiar with vagaries of air travel is scant reason to end up dead FFS.

All it would have taken is a member of YVR staff to write his name on a board and wander round the secure area looking for him. I can (just about) accept that there was nobody there in the middle of a busy day who spoke Polish but that's no reason to ignore the situation.

Glad to see the media is still hounding the RCMP about the officers' "response", but YVR seems to be getting a free ride over this .

Jay71

The Vancouver Sun had a good article on this story today. The paper had pictures of the arrivals area and a diagram. Unfortunately, this isn't shown on the web article.

I think I'll back off on my criticism of YVR a bit because it sounds like there seems to be some kind of jurisdictional issues between YVR and CBSA in the luggage area where the guy spent most of his time waiting. [Interesting bit of information Wally Bird about how it was discussed they would meet in by the luggage area.] But so many little things could have prevented this: having someone go into the luggage area for a quick look, getting a translator, etc.

dodo

Unless things have changed with Immigration, I do believe that he had to go to the Immigration counters or office after customs to sign the landing papers and before picking his luggage. The IO usually asks some basic questions wrt landing papers, like where one is going to live so that they can send the PR card and proof of funds ( in this case his mother's address and info since she was sponsoring his settlement). Was his first port of entry other than YVR? How did he communicate with the IO if he couldn't speak English?

shore9

I assume that this guy had never travelled internationally before, as the procedure is the same upon arrival into almost every country, unless you pre-clear, but that is not common. While it may not be signed all that well (I don't remember), isn't it somewhat obvious where you go after collecting your bags? If it isn't just follow the crowds. I am by no means defending the RCMP's action, however they can hardly blame the airport.

Wally Bird

Unless you are expecting to be met at the carousel.

I don't get Vancouver papers, so I'm only getting the occasional 'update' on this from sources of dubious reliability. ISTR in the original (CBC ?) video the woman witness said he was trying to get into a secure area, so (and I'm speculating here) he could well have followed the crowd out and then realised he needed to return to the agreed meeting point.

No question the RCMP has to answer for this, and maybe the CBP too; but I'm not convinced YVR staff did all they could have to reunite these two. Tragically.

shore9

True, but I just assumed it was common sense that afte INTL flights you have to go thru customs after getting your bags. I wonder how many people get this confused?

dodo

What if this is the first time that this fellow has travelled on a plane let alone outside Poland!!!

Wally Bird

Yes: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/pdf/airport.pdf

gglave

I agree the whole story is tragic from beginning to end.

BUT... Apparently this guy was immigrating to Canada. If I was immigrating to Poland I would be at Polish-language classes for months.

What on earth was he doing arriving in his new home, without even a phrase of English? At a minimum he should have been able to say "I am trying to find Mother." or "I do not understand. I am from Poland."

Pam

I must have some kind of radar for overzealous Immigration officers in YVR. I flew in there on the 16th, and the lady wanted to know 1)what I was going to do in Vancouver for 3 days, 2)how long I had known the friend I was staying with, 3)how I met this friend, 4)where did my friend live, and 5)was my friend Canadian. And I'm a middle-aged, English-speaking woman. I don't see how somebody who didn't speak English could get past the YVR (very unfriendly) Immigrations people.