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Funny little incident on A380 HKG-MUC

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Funny little incident on A380 HKG-MUC

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Old Jun 15, 2013, 11:45 am
  #1  
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Funny little incident on A380 HKG-MUC

Hey,

just wanted to share what happened on my flight in the A380 HKG-DBX-MUC as I really think it was quite the incident.

I was sitting in an Exit row next to the board kitchen and almost asleep when i realized that one of the parked and fully packed serving carts was slowly falling over towards my stretched out legs ! Thanks to countless hours of video games my reflexes are that of a cobra and I was able to brace for the impact and also protected my sleeping seat neighbor from most serious damage.

It really was quite the sight as tomato sauce or juice was splashing over the exit door and on my cloth and I am pretty sure the weight of the cart could have broken my legs or otherwise seriously injured me. Everybody was rather shocked and asked me weather everything was ok (i said yes which turned out to be a huge mistake) just my cloth was dirty and my lets hurt a little (nothing serious). They did apologize briefly but nothing else happened to my surprise !. After landing in Dubai I went to the service desk, explained the incident and told them they could double check my story with the crew or the log of the flight as i guessed such an incident would have been recorded somehow. They offered absolutely NOTHING as compensation! and just gave me a complain form . On my continuous flight DBX-MUC i talked to one of the cabin crew and she was shocked to hear my story and confirmed that its absolutely forbidden to store the carts in this area but they more or less all do it as there is simply not enough room in the kitchen!

I later filed a complaint with Emirates but of course they could not find any records and therefore denied any responsibility!

What one should learn from this incident is that you should immediately unleash hell upon them! I thought being reasonable and calm in this situation would be the way to go and appreciated by Emirates but boy was i wrong. Next time you fly A380 and see those damn carts staying in front of the exit row seats remind them that this is against safety regulations. Keep in mind that the brakes of the card where on, it was flipping over full length !
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Old Jun 15, 2013, 12:00 pm
  #2  
 
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It's unfortunate that acting in a dignified manner at the time has proven fruitless. A good warning for travellers in a similar situation when flying this airline.
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Old Jun 15, 2013, 1:03 pm
  #3  
 
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Always a good idea to bring it to the attention of the Purser in such situations - he/ she is supposed to record it. Learnt it the hard way on an ULH flight when the packed orange juice had started to ferment...
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Old Jun 15, 2013, 2:56 pm
  #4  
 
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Funny little incident on A380 HKG-MUC

Seems to me you either play the nice guy card and accept that you won't get anything more than a smile or a sorry or as suggested you formalise it and make sure it is recorded. Takin the nice guy route and then trying to get something out of it later is probably going to get you nowhere. Whoever was responsible will likely get into trouble so may well not report it if the passenger is fine. It follows therefore that there would be no record. I doubt this is an EK specific issue but more a human nature issue. Doubt SG or anyone else would be any different.
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Old Jun 15, 2013, 2:59 pm
  #5  
 
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Clearly the cart was not secured in place properly ? If this was a dangerous practice I think Emirates would have immediately put a stop to it . Plus if I recall , there is always someone at that " kitchen " (galley) , so for the cart to tip over would have had been the result of turbulence to which again someone is always posted at that kitchen and close enough to react ... Then again the design of the galleys on those 380s leave little place for crew to organize carts for service ... Really not a crew friendly cabin design ...
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Old Jun 15, 2013, 5:07 pm
  #6  
 
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Why is it so that every single mistake an airline(employee) makes people go r unning to the media or forums complaining that they didnt get compensation.

Do you need compensation when the shop clerk bumps into you by mistake?
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Old Jun 15, 2013, 6:01 pm
  #7  
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every little mistake no, but a mistake that was that dangerous, absolutely ! As my example shows it´s against safety regulations for a reason and it was a really dangerous situation as such a cart is not exactly light weight.

Even if there is someone at the galley he would not be able to react fast enough. The cart was as secured as possible as it had its brakes in (it did not roll onto us but tipped over full length) and strangely enough there was no turbulance, i cant quite explain it myself why it tipped over but there must be a reason why this is not allowed for safety reasons. Remember theese carts are not very broad and if it was top heavy it doesn´t take much to tip over. The cabin crew of the next flight confirmed that. So they made a mistake with serious consequences which could have resulted in major injury but as luckly nothing happened to both of us, only because of my quick reaction and sheer luck, they cover it up...that´s cheap.

Last edited by Plissken; Jun 15, 2013 at 6:09 pm
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Old Jun 15, 2013, 11:27 pm
  #8  
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What is it that you specifically want? What do you think the airline should do to adequately compensate you for your unfortunate experience? We see a lot of people on here who want to vent (which is understandable) but my humble opinion is that unless you are specific in what you want, the airline can't/won't do a lot to help you...
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Old Jun 15, 2013, 11:58 pm
  #9  
 
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That's nothing, there is a guy on another thread, they did not sing happy birthday to him.
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Old Jun 16, 2013, 12:03 am
  #10  
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oh come on don´t act as if this incident was not significant ! How much does such a cart weight ? 30kg or more ? now imagine this cart falling (not rolling) on your streched out legs because the cabin crew did not follow safety regulations. If thats the same as a happy birthday song i wanna see you Birthday - Parties


I specifically requested an upgrade in Dubai for the DBX-MUC leg but i would have been satisfied with even a small compensation like miles. Its more the fact that they ignored the whole thing most likely out of embarrassment.

My intention was not to vent of steam here but if you see them carts standing there you might want to pay attention and tell them that in this case the regulations are there for a good reason. The can crew on the DBX-MUC leg confirmed that they are not allowed to do it but most of the time they do it anyway...so i guess this practice still applies

Last edited by Plissken; Jun 16, 2013 at 12:10 am
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Old Jun 16, 2013, 12:14 am
  #11  
 
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Plissken
For what it's worth I agree with you, but the keyboard warriors on here who can see no wrong at EK will no doubt not.
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Old Jun 16, 2013, 12:19 am
  #12  
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Cool

"Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday Dear Plissken,
Happy Birthday to You.

From good friends and true,
From old friends and new,
May good luck go with you,
And happiness too."

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Old Jun 16, 2013, 1:24 am
  #13  
 
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I believe that Plissken was perfectly entitled to a compensation for the ruined clothes, and personally I would have made the airline pay unless there was a force majeure on the flight (there was none in this instance).

If I personally ever spill a drink on another person, the least I can do to there and then - pay for the clothes even if the person refuses to accept money. Would you not appreciate this yourselves when you are the ones getting affected?
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Old Jun 16, 2013, 3:17 am
  #14  
 
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Funny little incident on A380 HKG-MUC

If the OP was entitled to something he should have made the point at the time of the incident and not after the fact. As I said before if you want to be the nice guy then don't complain when people accept your gesture at face value. Seems to me you had wanted to benefit from the incident and your approach to getting compensation failed and now you are bitter.

Last edited by eightblack; Jun 16, 2013 at 5:58 am Reason: Just a whisker too far with the last comment.
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Old Jun 16, 2013, 3:42 am
  #15  
 
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I personally would like to know what was the cause of a cart that had been sitting perfectly fine, to all of a sudden tip over, with no turbulence or no one touching it?
There has to be something to cause it to tip.

Maybe they were filming the new "Paranormal Activity" film incognito on the flight??
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