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Airline passengers refuse to wait for body of servicemember to leave aircraft

Airline passengers refuse to wait for body of servicemember to leave aircraft

Old Jul 16, 2017, 4:28 pm
  #76  
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Originally Posted by runninaway
Lots of righteous indignation here and no one asking why the US Government is treating the deceased as commercial cargo. A dedicated C130 flight makes this entire discussion moot.
Given the cost of flying a C130 to transport a dead soldier's body by itself -- one body at a time -- is rather high, commercial transport seems to be a more affordable, even more practical option.
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Old Jul 17, 2017, 3:16 am
  #77  
 
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Originally Posted by BigFlyer
You have a military connection - you live near a military base, have family and friends in the military, and live not far from Richard Nixon's home.

Because of that connection you have strong feelings on this issue - to the point that you call people that disagree with you jerks, and advocate that the pilot essentially imprison passengers in the plane to assure compliance with what you believe is right.

Not everyone has that military connection or shares your beliefs. I would think allowing people to voluntarily show respect if they choose to do so by staying on the plane would be most in line with American traditions. Forcing people to stay on the plane as you suggest by locking the door sounds more North Korean than American to me.
Military connection here.

I agree with the sentiment that escort deplanes first. Then normal unboarding.

I dont see the reason to force delay an entire plane for a ceremony they cant even see and but for an announcement would not even know about.

Plenty of other ways to show respect beyond causing people to miss connections.
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Old Jul 17, 2017, 3:32 am
  #78  
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
Given the cost of flying a C130 to transport a dead soldier's body by itself -- one body at a time -- is rather high, commercial transport seems to be a more affordable, even more practical option.
And very much in line with American military tradition. Common carrier transport has been used to send the fallen home going back to the Civil War. Railroads did that through Korea, then airlines took over beginning with Vietnam. It is not practical nor economical to use military aircraft and personnel for this task when commercial carriers are perfectly capable of handling it effectively and with dignity.
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Old Jul 17, 2017, 5:12 am
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Originally Posted by AArlington
Military connection here.

I agree with the sentiment that escort deplanes first. Then normal unboarding.

I dont see the reason to force delay an entire plane for a ceremony they cant even see and but for an announcement would not even know about.

Plenty of other ways to show respect beyond causing people to miss connections.
+1 I agree with this, absolutely no problem letting the escort deplane first even if he/she is seated in row 97384, but normal deplaning should commence afterwards as its mentioned nobody can see the ceremony happening on the tarmac. It would be like a funeral traveling down main street, but over on peachtree 3 blocks over cars pulling over even though they cant see anything or would not know it was happening if not for a sign board telling them something is happening on Main.

This is SOMEWHAT similar to a flight being medically diverted. First responders should board, and assess (remove medical passenger immediately or treat on the plane), but everybody shouldnt have to wait on the plane because a person is being treated...
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Old Jul 17, 2017, 7:58 am
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Originally Posted by us2
And very much in line with American military tradition. Common carrier transport has been used to send the fallen home going back to the Civil War. Railroads did that through Korea, then airlines took over beginning with Vietnam. It is not practical nor economical to use military aircraft and personnel for this task when commercial carriers are perfectly capable of handling it effectively and with dignity.
+1. I was a Casualty Officer at Ft Lewis during the Vietnam war and handled hundreds if not thousands of transfers mostly through SEA. I personally only directly handled a few transfers and was more involved in the selection and training of escorts, the scheduling of transfers, and coordination with the family. Yes we did check with the Air Force/Air National Guard and would use one of their flights if available but it seldom worked out. There weren't then nor are there now enough airlift assets available and even less when you consider most assets are focused on supporting theaters of operations outside of the US.
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Old Jul 17, 2017, 10:18 am
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Originally Posted by AArlington
Military connection here.

I agree with the sentiment that escort deplanes first. Then normal unboarding.

I dont see the reason to force delay an entire plane for a ceremony they cant even see and but for an announcement would not even know about.

Plenty of other ways to show respect beyond causing people to miss connections.
I was on a flight a few years ago with remains from WWII and they just had the escort and family deplane first and then everyone else deplane. But, this was also at PHL, so there weren't any connections to miss. In that case, it was no big deal.
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Old Jul 20, 2017, 4:52 pm
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Originally Posted by enviroian
http://popularmilitary.com/airline-p...eave-aircraft/

If four announcements were made and people were still attempting to get off the plane then shame on them.
The one flight I've been on with a fallen soldier was on Delta. They asked passengers to stay seated until the military escort deplaned but not wait until the remains were removed. In fact, the pilots from our flight were down on the tarmac saluting when the remains were removed.

I actually offered my first class seat to the female soldier escort but she would not take it.

While it is a terribly sensitive subject, I'm not sure its necessary for everyone to remain seated until the remains are removed. In my case, it was probably 15 minutes from door open to remains removed.

I wonder if the person misunderstood what the flight crew was asking...
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Old Jul 21, 2017, 8:44 am
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I thought standard operating procedure was to ask passengers to remain seated until the military escort left the aircraft (and had a chance to descend the stairs to the ramp so s/he wouldn't be tramped by VIDs), the commence normal deplaning. That's the way it's worked on the flights I've been on.
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Old Jul 21, 2017, 10:54 am
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Likewise, including Delta 1149 last Friday 7/14 to HNL where a sailor killed at Pearl Harbor was being returned to be interred with his former mates. They asked that passengers wait until the two honor guard members deplaned but did not ask for further delay.
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Old Jul 21, 2017, 5:43 pm
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Please delete...dupe.
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Old Jul 21, 2017, 5:44 pm
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Originally Posted by GrayAnderson
DCA is also not a "connecting" airport, however (you can in theory force a connection there but the airport really isn't set up for that). If you get into a hub the connection issue is...well, an issue.
I have connected through DCA on a "regular" ticket. It is a hub for AA. I agree that while it is usually not a connection point, it very well can be.

Last edited by STVA; Jul 21, 2017 at 5:47 pm Reason: Quotation didn't format correctly
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Old Jul 21, 2017, 10:57 pm
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Originally Posted by jimrpa
I thought standard operating procedure was to ask passengers to remain seated until the military escort left the aircraft (and had a chance to descend the stairs to the ramp so s/he wouldn't be tramped by VIDs), the commence normal deplaning. That's the way it's worked on the flights I've been on.
This seems like the totally normal and appropriate approach.
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Old Jul 21, 2017, 11:46 pm
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Originally Posted by STVA
I have connected through DCA on a "regular" ticket. It is a hub for AA. I agree that while it is usually not a connection point, it very well can be.
I've connected in DCA a couple of times on USAirways and since the merger, several times on AA.
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Old Jul 22, 2017, 10:30 am
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I am a granddaughter of a WW2 Veteran who was privileged to come home after the war was over. If I was asked to wait 2 minutes for a veteran's coffin to be off loaded on a flight, you better believe I will make sure they get respect and I will not deal with someone who thinks 2 minutes makes a world of difference for a soldier or veteran making his or her last journey home to their loved ones for a proper burial. Even if this happened on a flight overseas, I will still show respect.
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Old Jul 23, 2017, 2:09 pm
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Originally Posted by MissRoseDarrensAngel
I am a granddaughter of a WW2 Veteran who was privileged to come home after the war was over. If I was asked to wait 2 minutes for a veteran's coffin to be off loaded on a flight, you better believe I will make sure they get respect and I will not deal with someone who thinks 2 minutes makes a world of difference for a soldier or veteran making his or her last journey home to their loved ones for a proper burial. Even if this happened on a flight overseas, I will still show respect.
You're entitled to your opinions and you're entitled for that to include what you think is 'disrespectful'. You aren't entitled to force that opinion on others who have places to be.

In fact, before this article had you even heard of this practice on commercial aircraft?
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