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Ever been on a Flight which had to Detour for an emergency ?

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Ever been on a Flight which had to Detour for an emergency ?

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Old Jun 22, 2016, 5:47 pm
  #16  
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Yep...787 from DEN to NRT, landed in SEA. Also, DPS to UPG returning to DPS b/c of a lack of fuel.
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Old Jun 22, 2016, 6:59 pm
  #17  
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Never been on a flight with a diversion. Thought i would of been with a fire on board 1 hour from Honolulu. After the panic pilot announced we were continuing to Sydney. . 9 hours away.
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Old Jun 25, 2016, 8:58 am
  #18  
 
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Was on a AirCanada flight YYZ-FRA in Feb 2015 when our plane had to return to YYZ after 1-hour flying - reason being toilet systems(water) frozen.
Captain said there's no way we can cross the atlantic without washrooms and potable water. People wondered why not land in Montreal and get it fixed, etc.

Caused a delay and a lot of missed connections in FRA. It was a pretty full flight too, but understood the safety issue and people need to use the washrooms so can't be without one for 8-9 hrs.
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Old Jun 25, 2016, 10:55 am
  #19  
 
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Back when i was in college (1984?) I was flying home Bos-Nashville, we had to divert to Atlanta due to an engine fire. I can't remember the airline. The staff had the gall to say they would not pay for the hotels because it was an act of God. Ummm..... No! I don't know if my parents fought for reimbursement. I shared a room with another person my age that did not have a credit card and would have been stuck.
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Old Jun 25, 2016, 3:45 pm
  #20  
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Flying ORD-RDU a few years ago we had to land in CVG when a warning light came on in the cockpit. We went from cruising altitude to being on the ground in about six minutes. Two hours later we took back off after it was decided the issue was in a redundant system and we could still fly.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 10:24 pm
  #21  
 
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I was on a flight once from IAD to DXB that had to divert to FRA for a bizarre reason. A passenger toward the rear of coach had some sort of medical emergency that I understand caused urine to go everywhere. So much everywhere in fact that a sanitation crew had to board to clean up and all of the food stored in coach was rendered unsafe. All new food had to be brought on board in FRA, and the food for the rest of the flight was distributed to all the coach passengers at once because there was apparently no where to store it on the plane.

I was in business class on that flight, and the gentleman for whom we diverted was brought forward to an empty seat behind me while the ambulance arrived. The medical crew came aboard to collect him and his things. He pointed to a bag that was his in the overhead bin, and he and the bag were both removed from the plane. Then out the window I saw the pilot sprint down the stairs to collect the bag, because it was apparently the pilot's and not the sick passenger's!

I didn't know the details of this story until a flight a few weeks afterward where I recognized one of the flight attendants from the bizarre flight who explained to me the full story.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 10:34 pm
  #22  
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AA MD80, AUS-ORD, diverted to STL for crazy Chicagoland weather. We sat there for two or three hours and the FAs broke out the granola bars.

AC A330, LHR-YOW, return to airport for fuel leak. Believe it was spotted by a port side pax who alerted the FA as we were crossing the Cornish coast. FO came aft to inspect; two minutes later we were turning around. Heathrow rolled the equipment for us -- not needed, but we sat on 9L for about ten minutes until folks on the exterior were satisfied we were safe to taxi, so regular ops must have suffered a hiccup. Once back on the stand the great AC captain came through the cabin to answer any questions, and we took off again for YOW about three hours later. Uneventful, but on descent I did make sure my shoes were laced and passport, etc. stuffed in pants pocket in case we had to deplane in a big hurry.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 11:48 pm
  #23  
 
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Just once. Pregnant lady had problems after leaving SLC. We stopped in DEN and she was taken to a hospital.
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Old Jun 26, 2016, 11:48 pm
  #24  
 
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A few for me.

HKG>PVG (KA)
Burning smell in the cabin about 30min after departure. Not sure how serious the problem was but the captain kept everyone calm and we returned to HKG. Had to board a later flight resulting in a 3 hour delay

HKG>YVR (AC)
A passenger complained of being very ill so we stopped in ANC. Upon landing said person decides they might not be so sick after all. Maybe they were calculating expensive US medical bills. Captain forced them off anyway. Resulted in about a 2 hour delay.

YVR>HKG (AC)
Sick passenger as well required stopping in NRT for about 2 hours.

YVR>LHR (AC)
Didn't have to stop but nearly did. The older gentleman across from me decided it would be a good idea to mix sleeping pills with multiple glasses of gin over ice (no mix). About 90 minutes into the flight he did a faceplant into his main course. FA's said we were close to having to divert but they decided not to. He seemed OK at arrival aside from a bruised ego and very upset Mrs.

The only one that bothered me was the "not so sick" person that forced the stop in ANC.
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Old Jun 27, 2016, 7:04 am
  #25  
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Qantas landing in Kuala Lumpur due to fuel starvation.
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Old Jun 27, 2016, 7:15 am
  #26  
 
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ATL-YYZ about 4 years ago. We were diverted to DTW due to fog. We sat on the ground for about 30 min until they decided we weren't continuing on, we would have to try and get on later flights. Of course as we pull up a DTW-YYZ flight is boarding so apparently the fog wasn't too bad but who knows. Here's the best part.....According to the gate agents/phone agents someone has to go in and "deboard" your name form the aircraft in the system. I believe they told me the Flight Attendant does it but I'm not sure I buy that but whoever was in charge of it didn't do it for half of our plane. Well they couldn't reschedule us until the names were "deboarded" from the plane. It took 2 HOURS to get this resolved so everyone who wasn't deboarded and got screwed because all the flights that evening were filled up with the other half of our plane. I did witness one of the nicer interactions I have ever seen in an airport. A poor woman was going home for a funeral of a relative and she didn't get to the counter in time to get on one of the flights that evening. One of the Pax that did overheard the conversation and came over and told them he wasn't in a big hurry and she needed the seat far more than him. It briefly restored my faith in humanity.
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Old Jun 27, 2016, 11:31 am
  #27  
 
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Diverted due to a mechanical issue. We circled Puerto Rico for about two hours to burn fuel so there was plenty (too much) time to speculate. Landed to see a full brigade of emergency personal, fire trucks, etc. Had to sleep in the SJU airport for 6 hours until a plane and crew was gathered to fly to our final destination. It was more excitement than I needed.
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Old Jun 27, 2016, 11:33 am
  #28  
 
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My two diversions:

(1) MRY-LAX on a United CRJ a few years ago. After takeoff, I notice we are circling MRY. Captain comes on to inform us the landing gear was stuck (and locked) in the down position and would not retract. He wanted someone in the MRY tower to inspect the gear as we flew over. After about 5 minutes, the pilot announced we were diverting to SFO, and we flew at a very low altitude. One lady on the flight was panicking. The FA and other pax tried to reassure her that it was a good thing the gear was stuck down (and not stuck up). We had a normal landing but were stuck in SFO for a few hours until a spare CRJ could be found to shuttle us to LAX. I think the panicked lady decided to find a WN flight instead.

(2) TPA-ATL on DL. Typical summer thunderstorms closed ATL ground operations while we were in the air. We ran out of spare fuel and had to divert to our alternate (TLH). We were lucky enough to have a gate, and the FAs let pax off the plane while we waited until ATL reopened.
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Old Jun 27, 2016, 12:08 pm
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Peterpack
Medical emergency or otherwise

Have you ever been on a flight which had to detour dramatically, possibly even return back to where it came from for an emergency

even though other peoples lives may be at stake, people would be pissed
A couple of times. Once was for a child who had appendicitis. More recently I was on a flight that diverted due to a passenger seizure..of course, by the time we landed the guy was back to normal.
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Old Jun 27, 2016, 12:17 pm
  #30  
 
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Not diverted, but a medical emergency

I was flying SQ from ICN to SFO a few years ago. I was in the seat 14 K in the business cabin. About 2 hours out from landing several SQ staff gathered at the lavatory directly in front of me. They were knocking on the door and eventually unlocked it. Seems the gentlemen inside has passed out/lost consciousness and had collapsed. There was an announcement asking if there were any medical professionals on board. 2 people soon joined the staff and I was asked to move back several rows so that they could work on the passenger in my seat. The passenger in 14 F was also asked to move to make room for one of the people that had come forward to help. That person assisted the sick person for the duration of the flight and only took his seat for the landing. Before we had exited the runway he was up again at the passenger's side.

After a very quick taxi to the gate all passengers were told to remain in our seats until further notice to allow emergency personnel onto the plane. They boarded as soon as the door was opened. The passenger appeared conscious but incapacitated. They put him in a wheel chair and exited the plane. We were allowed to deplane after another 15 minutes or so.

Not sure if the crew would have diverted had the incident occurred earlier in the flight but SFO seems like the best call considering where we were when it happened.
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