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Dog dies on IAH-LGA after FA supposedly insisted pax store dog overhead

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Dog dies on IAH-LGA after FA supposedly insisted pax store dog overhead

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Old Mar 13, 2018, 2:41 pm
  #61  
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Definitely something up with this story, I am a dog owner and although it's a big dog, if she was small enough for me to carry around like that I would be putting her in the overhead bin over my dead body, even if it meant missing a flight/trip.
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 2:44 pm
  #62  
 
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At least they weren't trying to pass the dog off as an open cabin ESA.

Not a lot of facts here other than a dog passed away in an untimely way and UA has accepted responsibility for the dog being placed in an overhead bin.

The pictures raise some questions but don't provide enough to say either way on some things.
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 2:47 pm
  #63  
 
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Originally Posted by rufflesinc
And if you're in the wrong, a free one way ticket to gitmo!
That's why it's useful to the know the rules/regulations governing air travel. Plus I've always wanted to go to Gitmo. Haven't had time to do any substantive pro bono work though I have colleagues who have picked up similar cases.
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 2:51 pm
  #64  
 
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Originally Posted by br2k
Overhead bins are open to the cabin air space, they have the same air and temperature, give or take.
While they don't look very comfortable, it should be no worse than being, say, locked in a closet for a few hours.
How much oxygen is in a full overhead bin? How much breathable air will come through the tiny gabs from the cabin? A cargo hold is generally pressurised and sometimes completely/partially heated. The former requires some kind of ventilation. In any case there is generally more fresh air being circulated to the hold than to overhead bins.

Last edited by WorldLux; Mar 13, 2018 at 3:21 pm
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 2:51 pm
  #65  
 
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I suspect that the FA really didn't know there was a dog in the carrier. Even if the passenger said something, the real mistake the FA most likely made was failing to really listen to the passenger. I personally didn't know people used bags with no breathing holes, etc. for dogs. Is this really a normal pet carrier?
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 2:52 pm
  #66  
 
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Anyone who insists the passenger store a dog anywhere other than the main cabin with it's owner needs to be charged with animal cruelty. To place a dog under the plane with other baggage or overhead lacks common sense in every way.
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 2:55 pm
  #67  
 
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This sounds like a crock.
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 2:57 pm
  #68  
 
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Originally Posted by BBSHOPSINGER
I suspect that the FA really didn't know there was a dog in the carrier. Even if the passenger said something, the real mistake the FA most likely made was failing to really listen to the passenger. I personally didn't know people used bags with no breathing holes, etc. for dogs. Is this really a normal pet carrier?
A lot of soft-sided small pet carriers are pretty much a solid fabric duffle or shoulder bag on five sides with the sixth (and smaller) end side being mesh to allow air to circulate. Which works well enough in normal circumstances and for short time frames, but is not great for a short snout breed in a small space where the mesh side could have been blocked from air circulation by another bag in the bin.

And one of the selling point of many of them is that they do look more like a duffle bag than a normal hard sided pet carrier.
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 2:59 pm
  #69  
 
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Originally Posted by laxmillenial
The 'slight' problem I have with people saying "why didn't someone stand up or she should have stood up more or she should have absolutely refused to put the dog in the overhead bin..." is...

In post 9/11, disobeying a flight attendant is how you end up:
  • In handcuffs
  • Kicked off your flight
  • Having the airline refuse to fly you on a future flight and you have to buy tickets on another airline yourself
  • Arrested, jailed, etc.
I know many of us (myself included) go... "Oh I would've stood up" but seriously, how many of you stand up on a day to day basis against FA's (who you assume have your interests and safety in mind) and don't have one of those above happen to you.

We've been conditioned to just sit down and shut up and what the FA says, is what happens, else repurcussions happen.
And that's the problem with the aviation world today. A flight attendant should have zero authority. If you as a flight attendant have an issue with a customer, call your supervisor who may then call the police if the situation warrants it. FA's should have as much authority as a low level security guard. You are there to help people during an emergency... Not make an executive decision or display supreme power like you're some big wig supervisor.
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 3:00 pm
  #70  
 
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Sounds like a setup to get money or free flights. UA is over the barrel PR-wise, so easy to take advantage...
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 3:01 pm
  #71  
 
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Originally Posted by WorldLux
How much oxygen is in a full overhead bin? How much breathable air will come through the tiny gabs from the cabin? A cargo hold is generally pressurised and sometimes completely/partially heated. The former requires some kind of ventilation as otherwise the dado . In any case there is generally more fresh air being circulated to the hold than to overhead bins.
I would guess that under normal conditions temperature and oxygen are about the same, but if you put something that uses oxygen and generates heat in the bin and the numbers will change fast.
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 3:01 pm
  #72  
 
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Originally Posted by DCP2016
Definitely something up with this story, I am a dog owner and although it's a big dog, if she was small enough for me to carry around like that I would be putting her in the overhead bin over my dead body, even if it meant missing a flight/trip.
Same. There's no WAY I would comply. Was she in a bulkhead? That's the only thing I can think of. But then you would just swap seats with someone. The FA can't have known.

It's a dramatic instagram post from the fellow passenger too. "We heard him barking" etc. Sounds a bit fishy. And (I'm sure this is mentioned up thread), wouldn't you get your dog OUT of the overhead as soon as you took off?

Regardless, this won't end well for United.

Originally Posted by chollie
I don't see any evidence that someone was trying to 'stress the system'. Further, I'm a frequent flyer, but it never would have occurred to me that putting a pet in the overhead was an automatic death sentence - and I certainly wouldn't have suspected it if an FA had told me it was OK.
Would you like to be put in the overhead and see how it is for us? Any living creature in the overhead has to be a no-no.
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Last edited by seanp7; Mar 13, 2018 at 3:10 pm
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 3:02 pm
  #73  
 
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Originally Posted by vkng
For the last time, it was a police officer. Stop trying to make that incident something it wasn't
And I was talking about THIS incident.

If the passenger "disobeyed crew member instruction" and refused to put the dog on the overhead.
What would happen to the passenger? Would United kick the passenger off the flight?

These are entirely fair questions to ask after "that incident".
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 3:07 pm
  #74  
 
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Originally Posted by kirkwoodj
Sounds like a setup to get money or free flights. UA is over the barrel PR-wise, so easy to take advantage...
Yep. Kill your own dog so you can get free flights. Really?
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Old Mar 13, 2018, 3:08 pm
  #75  
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So maybe in the future on full flights, when they know overhead space is tight, they won't board passengers with dogs in carriers?
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