I was forced to evacuate a burning plane (electrical fire, smoke filling the plane) in Anchorage after an aborted attempt at take off about 5 years ago on ERA (?) and no compensation was given. We waited 3 hours for a replacement plane. I was more concerned about getting on a plane again that compensation...and then the float plane after that!!!!!!!

Then I never wrote a letter asking something from them.

------------------
Only God does not have to travel

Last year on an American flight fifteen minutes out from Puerto Rico to Boston there was an odor from the cockpit. It smelled like burning electrical wiring. The FAs actually announced that passengers should not panic. We turned around, landed safetly in PR and waited an hour before agents said the plane was ok to fly. Many people took alternate flights. We got upgraded to business class. Weeks later we received a letter apologizing and giving us each 5,000 additional AA miles. We appreciated the recognition of inconvenience and the token of apology.

I had an unscheduled stop earlier this year in Anchorage (NRT-SJC) due to a fuel shortage. Granted, not a safety problem, and in this case it WAS something AA could have prevented. I didn't request anything, but AA sent a nice letter and 8,000 miles as an apology. In the case here I wouldn't expect anything, but of course a gesture of good will would be appreciate.

Johndor:

The fuel taken on during that unplanned stop was not just to keep the generator which powers the in-flight entertainment system running.

Westerly headwinds are particularly strong during the winter, and it's not uncommon for aircraft to make unscheduled stops in order to take on added fuel making up for the excess burn reqired in throttling up the engines to compensate for headwind flying (in the interest of trying to keep on schedule, as a matter of fact).

So in one sense, the decision to stop in ANC was "controllable." ... But what was the alternative?

Some posters have questioned why the plane did not go over the ocean and dump fuel. Planes do not need to go over the ocean to dump fuel. Fuel dissipates quite quickly - it's gone within 2-3,000 feet. In the situation described, it appears likely the hydraulics problem also prevented them being able to dump fuel. It would seem the pilot weighed the options in terms of risk of landing with a full load of fuel or circling over Palmdale - an area in proximity to a few long runways - and decided circling carried the least risk.

FYI, PMD can accomodate just about any ac both civilian and military. BTW L-1011s were built there.

------------------
For money savings ideas & tips check & FF miles bonus for finance & auto buying check out ValueConsumer.com

I'd expect at least enough compensation for the cleaning of my pants.

Touche thepla!

AA should issue Depends to their customers.

AA should issue Depends to their customers.

DH: Exactly. My point was that Palmdale is a very safe spot to circle over because there are good landing sites available had the situation changed and they needed to land with a full load of fuel.

A few years ago either a Quantas or New Zealand flight out of LAX did need to land full of fuel. They took off with two tanks full and one pretty much empty, but once in the air discovered they couldn't switch to the either of the two full tanks - so while they were full of fuel, they were essentially operating on empty. They landed successfully back at LAX (surrounded by many fire trucks), but there was obvious risk of blowing tires, fire, etc.

My brother in law just received a letter of apology from American today with a $300 voucher.

He, as I, think thats fair compensation, especially since he never sent AA a letter in the first place.

That sounds fair; if it were me I would consider a voucher for a nice dinner (albeit in the airport) and a drink or two to be a fair enough apology. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

------------------
"If you want to win the game, write the rules."

Compensation is definitely in order, though no more than would be normal for a delay in the airport of several hours. This is not much on most airlines.