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Back in 1994, I was on an America West flight PHX-SEA. Apparently there was some kind of convention in PHX, with a lot of people flying out on this flight.
One of the passengers' carryon bags was leaking a chemical of some sort. When it was discovered, it was determined that whatever this chemical was hazardous and couldn't be carried on an airplane (it being over 20 years ago, I can't remember the specifics, and doubt I even knew what it was at the time). Eventually they figured out that this particular substance was given out at the conference, and that other passengers likely had the same stuff. The crew made several announcements asking passengers if they had any of this stuff in their luggage, and each time, a few more people admitted to having it on the plane. I think some even had it in their checked luggage. Eventually they had to take everybody off the plane, unload the checked bags, and bring in some dry ice to treat the spill in the luggage bin. I want to say the total delay was something along the lines of 4-5 hours. |
Originally Posted by beachmouse
(Post 29542610)
The worst delay reason I've had was at an outstation when an airport baggage train hit the plane during boarding and the right 'on call' mechanic was an hour out from the airport so it took forever for him to get there and start deciding whether the new dent in the plane was an aviation safety concern or not.
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Originally Posted by bigislanddave
(Post 29546771)
... Ask for hotel voucher.gate agent says he has none and only 2 ga to handle 2 cancelled flights with 300 stranded customers. He said "you are on your own". All hotels want $440 a night. Spent one night with no compensation. UAL to the rescue again with flight next day. Tell me why do I keep booking aa ? am I a masochist?
Originally Posted by Austin787
(Post 29546562)
... People who have tight connections and no time to visit the airport restroom especially if the airport restroom has lines. Yes, even a few minutes can be the difference in getting on the flight and being left behind.
My weirdest delay (in my limited travel experience) was aboard one of the Delta 747 DTW-ATL Thanksgiving runs in 2016. Apparently the fuel had been overfilled and needed to be drained, and IIRC, they couldn't measure out how much to offload - they had to drain it all and refill. Total delay was about an hour and a half. The captain sounded a bit irked, but as this was my first and only trip in a D1 seat, I can't really say I minded. :) |
Other airline couple years ago. Inbound plane was ABQ-IAH. Turned back to ABQ near Texas border. Took off again and went back second time. It finally arrived IAH about 2 hours late and was delayed there (I was going IAH-CVG). They were going to the maintenance sheds looking for seat cushions and replacement seat belts. Just before boarding a gate agent told me someone got sick and they went back. Second return was someone else got sick from lingering smell, hence the pieces being replaced. Finally we board about 3 hours late and I settle into my fluffy new seat with a shiny belt buckle. Wasn't a scratch on that thing.
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Getting on the wrong flight is a fairly common occurrence at airports where they board a bunch of regional jets through a single gate. I have seen it two or three times where someone isn't paying attention and they just board the first aircraft with a door open and they only figure it out once two people think they have the same seat.
Also had a drunk pilot many years ago - circa 2000. He put up quite the fuss as he was being arrested at the gate. They had a spare pilot so I think the delay was minimal, but it was an interesting experience. |
Originally Posted by thibderoc
(Post 29545487)
The worst reason for a delay I've ever heard was not on a plane but on a train : it was snowing and the reason for the delay was "People are throwing snowballs at the trains" !
OMG! |
A few years ago out of DAL, someone pulled the fire alarm in the control tower sending all inbound traffic to DFW. Had to wait for plane to refuel, taxi, and fly the ... 5? miles between the two airports.
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Other airline...many (maybe 20+) years ago when I was a kid. We had boarded and stowed luggage but were still at the gate when the pilot gave an evacuation order. Turns out a large shipment of aftershave had broken and spilled all throughout the cargo hold.
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Once on a flight out of Naples, Italy, the tow tug pushed the plane back. We sat for 10 minutes then the tug came back and pulled our plane back to the stand. Pilot announced the tug pushed the plane the wrong direction. The tug then pushed the plane back out the other (correct) direction.
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Post-9/11 Terminal Flush
January 2002, three months after 9/11/01. It's the closing day of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. I had boarded in ANC at 0630 for a flight to SLC, then to connect to one to PSC. I had been noticed that no flights could take off or land from SLC during the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, so although I arrived in SLC about 1030, I would not be leaving SLC until around 2230. Okay, I bought a day pass to the Delta Sky Club (or whatever it was called then) and prepared to hang out there for 12 hours.
Got to meet Adam West in the Sky Club. I was coming back from a police trainers' conference, so running into the original crime fighter was a big plus. Come 2200 or so, I make my way to my gate. Boarding goes uneventfully. We are ready, by all appearances, to push back, when the captain comes out of the flight deck and addresses us all face-to-face. It seems that one of the metal detectors at SLC had been discovered to be inoperative, and no one knows how long it had been that way. The remedy was to "flush the terminal," get everyone out and have them go back through security (pre-TSA), and then re-board. I comply. Of course, by the time I got back to the gate, the plane had left without me. Delta gate agent explains that the crew would have timed out had they waited for everyone. I am particularly cheesed, as I went through security in ANC, and had never left the sterile area of SLC. I and 10,000 or so of my closest friends spend the night in the SLC airport. By the time I got on a flight for home, I had been up for about 36 hours. Delta compensates me with 3,000 SkyMiles and a breakfast meal voucher. Sixteen years ago, and I'm still pissed about it. |
A week ago Thursday flying ABQ-SLC-MSP, our flight out of ABQ was delayed for well over 2 hours due to a fire extinguisher's label being damaged. I ended up missing my connection in SLC, was rebooked SLC-SEA-MSP getting into MSP about 5:30 AM Friday. Both flights were packed so I asked for a routing with more F availability. They rebooked me SLC-DTW-MSP in F for the first leg, and I got an upgrade for the final leg. I got home about 10:00 Friday morning all because of a label being damaged.
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Some years ago, flying LAS-SEA on America West. Somewhere between PDX and SEA, captain makes a U-turn heading south. Comes on the PA and tells us that SEA is fogged in, so we're diverting to PDX for fuel. About 5 minutes later, another U-turn and we're headed back to SEA. Apparently, the fog has lifted and we're going to make a run for it.
Well, once near SEA we start circling. Fog is back. As were low on fuel, I wondered how long we'd keep that up. Eventually the captain lets us know we're going to divert to Paine Field in Everett, which is where the huge Boeing factory is (and no commercial operations.) We land there and sit on the plane for a couple of hours while they do the paperwork to get some fuel. Captain apologizes, saying "this isn't something we do every day" so it requires a lot of phone calls, authorizations, etc. While on the ground, people are getting antsy, calling the media on their phones and asking why they can't just get some buses to drive us down to Sea-Tac (about 40 miles.) Two hours later, we take off, circle for 20 minutes, then land at SEA in some pretty thick fog. Got to watch the story on the news that night... DB |
I'm reminded of a cancellation as opposed to a delay that came up once at work. Working for a very small (Beech 1900s) airline, flight is ready to spin out, it's a bit of a nasty day weather wise, they were gonna require de-icing. Pilot says they need type 4 de-ice, dispatch disagrees, pilot says he's not flying without it, dispatch says he doesn't need it and that it'll cost more than the flight is worth to fly anyway. Pilot cancels flight.
Originally Posted by ezefllying
(Post 29544506)
She was told she wouldn't have to fly if the flight was delayed
Originally Posted by ezefllying
(Post 29544506)
The passenger, who already seemed fairly charged, is now outraged and tearful. Upon return to the gate, she walks off the plane as passengers audibly criticize her to her face.
Originally Posted by boudin
(Post 29545704)
Several years ago on a delayed Continental flight out of IAH, taxied to the runway, about to power up and take off when the captain came on and said the crew just timed out. Last flight of the day to MCI. Back to the gate and collected a hotel voucher for a stay overnight.
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PHL, DC-9 (don't recall if this was pre- or post-merger). Waiting for plane to be towed to gate for morning flight. GA announces that the tow-bar had broken and they were having trouble finding another.
Don't remember the length of the delay. The mind tends to blot out painful memories. More recently... taxiing out for take-off. Pilot announces that we are returning to the gate for MX. After repairs, we taxi out for take-off. Pilot announces that we are again returning to the gate for MX... same issue. IIRC, this was the same flight where the original plane had gone MX in ATL and a new plane (the 2X MX plane) had been substituted. FWIW... MD series aircraft. ;) |
Originally Posted by ezefllying
(Post 29544506)
Last week, flying HNL to the East Coast (not on Delta), we took at three-hour delay because someone -- I'm assuming a flight attendant -- managed to deploy the emergency evacuation slide upon arrival of the inbound flight. The flight was on the verge of cancelling until one of the carrier's gate agents called her brother, a maintenance supervisor at HNL for another airline, who found a spare emergency slide (kid you not). It took about two hours to install it and inspect the installation, but, lo and behold, it worked.
Most irritating delay: PHL-SFO. After a roughly one-hour delay for whatever reason, we board the plane. Another 25 minutes pass as the pilots complete paperwork. Then, we push pack. About three minutes later, as we're sitting on the ramp waiting to enter the taxiway, a passenger rings her call button: She was told she wouldn't have to fly if the flight was delayed, she tells the flight attendants who answers, and if she takes this flight she thinks she'll miss her connection to Vegas. Instead, she wants to get off the plane, drive to Newark, and attempt to make an EWR-LAS nonstop -- a nonstop that was, I believe, scheduled to depart less than three hours from that moment. The FA tries to talk her down. Another FA tries to talk her down. She is insistent. The captain comes on the PA with what even I considered a surprisingly contemptuous tone and explains that since somebody has decided at this moment that she doesn't want to fly, we're all going to have to return to the gate and take another 45-60-minute delay. The passenger, who already seemed fairly charged, is now outraged and tearful. Upon return to the gate, she walks off the plane as passengers audibly criticize her to her face. And then, after another 25-30 minutes, or or two other passengers decide to leave since they'll misconnect. Finally, the pilot comes on again to give something of an ultimatum ("leave now or forever hold...," in essence). The rest of us sit, we push, and we land in SFO about 2.5 hours late. |
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