woolfcross

I was on flight 5000 from EWR-SYR on 3/19. About 20 minutes into the flight, a strong smell of burning electric/plastic filled the cabin, followed immediately by smoke and the beginning of a steep descent. Freezing cold air entered the cabin (we could see our breath in the air).

The young and inexperienced flight attendant was very evidently panicked and started shouting, "Everyone in the first few rows get back! GET BACK!" One equally nervous man asked her "Does the Captain know about this?"--repeatedly, with increasing agitation. She never responded, which only added to the tension in the cabin. Those of us in the front rows hastened to the back and buckled in.

No announcement was made from the cockpit (understandable, if pilots were busy!). But flight attendant told us nothing except, close to the ground, "You will see fire trucks, etc." Upon landing, she went into her rehearsed shtick: "Welcome to Syracuse. You can claim your luggage at...etc.etc. etc."

But of course we weren't in Syracuse. We had made an emergency landing in Newburgh, New York, which we didn't discover until we hurriedly got off the plane, surrounded by emergency vehicles (leaving all our belonging behind us, as instructed). As I walked by one fireman, I asked, "Where are we?". That's when I learned that we were at Stewart Airport in Newburgh.

As I'm an older flyer (and I looked rather the worse for wear, especially after almost 11 hours BIS on a delayed flight from FCO-EWR), the EMTs singled me (and another older traveler) out for extra attention. I felt horribly nauseous, and not surprisingly, my blood pressure was through the roof. They stayed with me until it started to lower (they were terrific).

Another bright note was the highly competent UA customer rep who arrived to take care of us. Not much to be had at night at the tiny Newburgh airport, but there was one concession stand open, and she arranged for us to have snacks/sodas/waters for free. She arranged to have our belongings brought from the cabin (for we were instructed to leave them behind in the hurried emergency exit). She arranged for another plane to come to take us to Syracuse. Involved another painful 4 hour wait on hard plastic seats in the deserted, cheerless little airport but finally got home at around midnight (original flight scheduled to arrive at 5:30).

We were told by above-mentioned highly competent rep that we would all be contacted by United with regard to compensation for this upsetting flight. It's now one week later, and I've heard nothing. Anyone have an idea whom I should contact? Or, for that matter, if compensation is even owing?

Thanks for any and all advice!

Alpha Golf

sorry but my advice would be to be happy everyone was ok and that you were all taken care of.

woolfcross

Well, it's certainly true that I'm glad to be alive! I only brought this up because the rep said we would all be contacted with regard to compensation--and I haven't been contacted.

mjcewl1284

The fact that the UA reps arranged for the people on this flight to have free food and snacks in the terminal is already in my mind, going beyond the call of duty.

IceTrojan

Since the UA rep mentioned compensation, I think this thread is appropriate (IMO of course).

Nothing wrong with writing to UA with the facts. I wouldn't even ask about compensation, just more of a "were you aware..." letter. I know they probably are aware, but this might lube up the compensation gears a little.

Glad all is well. Can't say I've had an experience that intense.

And if anything, you have more claim to your actual miles flown for your stop in Newburgh than this guy
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/alask...stuck-orc.html

Crazyboutflying

I don't think there is anything wrong with a simple email to United. Heck, people get vouchers when their reading light doesn't work, I certainly think it would be good customer service to follow up on what was already said to these passengers.

cerealmarketer

What a terrible sounding inflight experience - can imagine it being very frightening.

Here's the issue...

That agent wasn't a United agent. United doesn't serve Newburgh....US Airways, Delta, and JetBlue do. Was probably a US Airways agent helping you out since they codeshare a PHL-SWF flight.

And the flight crew was contracted under United Express.

So you never got a chance to hear anything from an actual United representative.

Send them a short email referencing the incident and focus on the delay itself...maybe something will come your way. for what appears to be a 5+ hour mechanical delay at minimum.

jsl42

Oy. Give this guy a break. The OP is always wrong on the United board these days!

When a cockpit window seal blew on my CLT-ORD RJ awhile back forcing a diversion to CLE, I had an email with an invitation to visit www.united.com/appreciation by the time we landed in Chicago.

This was immediately pre 3/3 but it looks like www.united.com/appreciation now redirects to https://secure.unitedmileageplus.com/CPRi.jsp. It's very likely that passengers on your flight are eligible to receive a goodwill offer through that link and you weren't notified. I recall having the ability to choose between miles or an e-cert. As a 1K, I got something like 10,000 miles; my 1P companion got fewer.

I would give it a try and fill out the form. If it doesn't work, you should contact customer care to escalate the situation. You're a Platinum so you should hear something in a reasonable amount of time.

UAPremierGuy

To not expect some sort of compensation in this instance, is ridiculous. IMHO, compensation, such as a free flight, is absolutely warranted here.

Indelaware

To expect compensation in this instance is, IMHO, ridiculous.

The airline did just the right thing - they landed the plane safely. To give comensation for doing so is, IMHO, just wrong. It is a silpery slope-- airlines should have zero financial insentive to do other than the safe thing.

Besides, OP already got a bonus beyond his/her ticket. How many are lucky enough to have an emergency diversion to tell about? Indeed, I'd pay extra to have the thrill of landing someplace other than where I was scheduled to.

ORD4R

This is just dead wrong. Of course the passengers deserve compensation. They suffered a 5 hour mechanical delay. Were put through a harrowing experience that caused at least one of the passengesr to suffer high blood pressure. While the flight deck crew appears to have done an outstanding job. It does appear that the FA was certainly less than stellar in handling the passengers. Further the contracted resource United had on the ground promised compensation.

Of course some compensation is due and the OP should write United. I think an argument can be made on how much compensation the passengers are entitled to, but they certainly deserve an apology for the experience and some tangible express of United's regret for a mechanical failure that caused passenger some extreme discomfort.

ilovesprint

The fact that united said they would contact you and they didn't is a major customer service flaw.

Email customer care with all of the details and they will compensate you

sunil

It's simple the product (flight from a->b) was not delivered to the customer and the customer deserves to be compensated. Whats difficult to comprehend about this ?

grahampros

If this was such a big deal we would have read about it by now on any number of websites. Didnt make the cut.

Phil Level

At a minimum, you should get the comp due for any MX related delay, and I cannot emphasize at a minimum enough.