Panic Attack Causes Delay
 

So was on BA185 over the weekend and almost immediately as we pushed off the gate at Heathrow a passenger and companion come back down the aisle toward the rear galley, something seems clearly wrong. Turns out the one passenger was having a panic attack and was afraid to fly. Crew lets the passengers sit in the last row crew rest seats and starts talking to the passengers. Panic attack passenger seems to start doing better but keeps repeating that she just wants to go home. The FA says "ok that's no problem, I'll just ring the Captain and we'll return to the gate." (It seemed, at least to me, that the crew made no real effort to convince her that it was safe to fly, rather saying "oh yeah the turbulence can be really bad TATL", etc.)

So we're fully pushed off the gate, engines starting up ready to go and the FA calls up front for us to return to stand. Takes 20 minutes to get back on the stand, and another 60 minutes to pull bags, add more fuel, push again, etc. Total 80 minute delay on departure for this. I think the crew just didn't want to be bothered with the prospect of a panicked passenger on an 8 hour flight.

Anyone have anything like this happen before? Reasonable that BA returned to the gate for this inconveniencing 200+ people (many of whom had connections)? Does BA just eat the cost of the delay (additional fuel, etc?) Would be curious to hear thoughts. Never had anything like this happen before and was very surprised how willing the crew was to return to the gate without even trying to calm the passenger down first. Would we have diverted if this happened over Ireland say? Where is the line drawn? Would be curious to hear thoughts on this. Not sure how I felt about it. Part of me felt really badly for the passenger and the other part of me was really annoyed about the delay (especially since I was crammed into the last row of Y for an extra 80 minutes!)

Your being too harsh on the crew. After talking to the passenger and seeing them in person, they would have judged what the best course of action was. Better a 80 minute delay than a divert, not to mention an unpleasant atmosphere with a distressed passenger on board.

Yes, have witnessed several panic attacks (and other medical emergencies) during taxiing which lead to severe delays over the years.

One time actually they had to cancel the flight and rebook all pax to the next day since it took so long to get the issues sorted that the flight couldn't depart without violating the night curfew in FRA. All lot of unhappy passengers... Me included.

Worst panic attack I saw on a domestic Swedish flight on a really old and run down Fokker 50. Even I wasn't to happy about flying that pile of scrab metal ;)

Unpleasant situation, no doubt.

I wonder what the protocol for the crew is. I imagine there is one. If a passenger has a medical issue (even if it is a mental health problem, such as a panic attack) and states that he wishes to leave the aircraft, I suppose the crew have to comply if it is doable?

I experienced these kinds of delays several times while taxiing. Each time the delay was about 1,5 hrs. Once, with AF on a CDG-EVN flight, a passenger who was about to be deported from France started to act up and the plane returned to gate immediately to offload him. Once he was offloaded, the captain came on the intercom to apologise and explain that it was company policy to offload anyone who was acting up on the ground, no matter what. He also explained that the lawyers for the deportees know this and instruct them to cause a disturbance, so that their deportation is stopped.

Another time, in ZRH, a girl started to undress while taxiing for takeoff and then proceeded to kiss the female FA who came to investigate. She was offloaded on the tarmac and taken away by police (also kissed the cop).

Witnessed that too a couple of times ex-Germany. Those lawyers should loose their license and the deportee just strapped down to the seat.

That's sounds hilarious... But most probably wasn't funny for anybody involved.

Duct tape and handcuffs would be a welcome addition to the a/c for this nonsense. :td:

I am going to venture to guess that you've never had s panic attack. I'm confounded as to what the proper way to address this type of incident should be, but duct tape and handcuffs are not on my top 100 list.

+1. It was the right decision to return to the gate and off-load the passenger and suggestions of physical restraint are ridiculous. Sure, it's an irritation to be delayed but how is that compared to having a passenger flipping out for the entire flight?

If a passenger is panicking during pushback then I would not want to takeoff, nevermind cross an ocean, with them onboard. Doing so might lead to a situation where the passenger will have to be restrained in flight.

For the deportation nonsense, perhaps, as the passenger is presumably
still under some kind of custody, but doing any such thing on account
of a health issue would risk serious legal and liability repercussions
(not to mention being humanitarianly reprehensible).

The most unpleasant flight I've ever endured would have been fine if the captain hadn't made the misguided decision to keep a psychotic person on board. I found an obese elderly woman in my bulkhead seat at LAX. I told her she was in the wrong seat, but knew from her response that she was not in her right mind so sat in her assigned seat a couple of rows back. She was in a blind panic, explaining that she couldn't go to Cleveland because they were going to cut her up into little pieces and put them in a garbage bag.

I alerted an FA, who talked with the lady for a few minutes before informing the captain. He came and talked with her for ten or fifteen minutes. I think his reassuring air of authority helped her reorganize her addled mind sufficiently to convince him she was fit to fly.

We taxied and took off. She yelled, swung her cane wildly till she was relieved of it, soiled herself, and cried throughout most of the flight. A flight attendant and a heroic fellow passenger sat with her for the entire flight. When we arrived at CLE, the purser asked pax to remain seated because of the "special situation." Now the lady, who had repeatedly asked to get off en route, refused to leave. I had urged the FA to arrange for paramedics to meet us, but that didn't happen. There was a tense standoff for a while, when the lady suddenly bolted off the plane faster than anyone could have imagined.

I would not want to be responsible for judging whether any given passenger was fit to fly.

That is exactly the job of the flight deck and cabin crew but they turned in a poor show here, from the sound of it. But it is just like FAs tolerating intoxicated people, or worse, proactively getting people drunk inflight. The people "who are here primarily for your safety" don't always act the part. Sometimes they just want to get off the gate on time or avoid confrontation.

In this case, it was the captain who decided to make the lady fly. The FAs made the right call to deboard her but were overruled. The FAs had to deal with the very unpleasant result.

Hope I never have to fly with you.

It infuriates me that someone's irrational inability to hold themselves together will cause problems for hundreds of strangers...maybe thousands down the line due to cascading delays and rebooks..And I have seen it myself more than once.

However, I understand that it can be a lesser evil than having an person out of control aboard, once airborne. Frightening stories abound regarding people who have tried to open emergency exits in flight, or tried to bust down the cockpit doors.

If you are prone to such attacks, either medicate yourself appropriately, or don't fly. It's not all about you. Aviation is a vastly complex system and your causing a delay can ruin logistics for the airline and cause all manner of problems for other passengers.