UA 949 ORD-PDX diverted on 6/25
Jun 26, 2009, 8:59 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: ORD, PDX
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UA 949 ORD-PDX diverted on 6/25
Traveling ORD-PDX on flight 949 yesterday was quite an experience.
Boarded close to on time, de-boarded after pilot check showed a mech issue that they couldn't resolve. Waited for a new plane. Changed gate twice and achieved a decent workout in the process. Boarded and pushed back two hours late.
At this point I was thanking my lucky stars - this is the first time so far this year I've had a flight where a new plane had to be brought in, and they did it reasonably quickly. The flight was uneventful until shortly after we started descent, the plane started to bank sharply to the right...I knew something was wrong before the pilot came on and announced that the landing lights were out at PDX and we were diverting to SEA instead.
At SEA the crew (all still legal) were keeping us on board while they figured out whether the issue at PDX was resolved (it was), but the captain determined he was too fatigued to fly the leg to PDX and announced they were bringing in buses to take us to PDX.
Seattle at 11pm on a Thursday night - not entirely shocking that they couldn't just round up buses for 182 people. After an hour, I grabbed the two people that had been sitting in my row on the plane, rented a car, and we hauled down I-5 and were back in Portland by 2:30am. All in all it was mostly just a strange trip made rather interesting by spending a couple of hours in a car with people I barely knew. United had sent out "sorry for the inconvenience" e-mails before the luggage was even off the plane which I appreciated. Now hopefully they'll reimburse for the car rental and then I can chalk this up to experience.
Boarded close to on time, de-boarded after pilot check showed a mech issue that they couldn't resolve. Waited for a new plane. Changed gate twice and achieved a decent workout in the process. Boarded and pushed back two hours late.
At this point I was thanking my lucky stars - this is the first time so far this year I've had a flight where a new plane had to be brought in, and they did it reasonably quickly. The flight was uneventful until shortly after we started descent, the plane started to bank sharply to the right...I knew something was wrong before the pilot came on and announced that the landing lights were out at PDX and we were diverting to SEA instead.
At SEA the crew (all still legal) were keeping us on board while they figured out whether the issue at PDX was resolved (it was), but the captain determined he was too fatigued to fly the leg to PDX and announced they were bringing in buses to take us to PDX.
Seattle at 11pm on a Thursday night - not entirely shocking that they couldn't just round up buses for 182 people. After an hour, I grabbed the two people that had been sitting in my row on the plane, rented a car, and we hauled down I-5 and were back in Portland by 2:30am. All in all it was mostly just a strange trip made rather interesting by spending a couple of hours in a car with people I barely knew. United had sent out "sorry for the inconvenience" e-mails before the luggage was even off the plane which I appreciated. Now hopefully they'll reimburse for the car rental and then I can chalk this up to experience.
Jun 26, 2009, 10:01 pm
#2
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,691
Don't count on being reimbursed for 2 reasons:
1. UA may blame it on issues out of their control; the lights.
2. You rented the car on your own. Some cases I've heard they deny reimbursement based on the fact that they could have done something cheaper/better for you.
1. UA may blame it on issues out of their control; the lights.
2. You rented the car on your own. Some cases I've heard they deny reimbursement based on the fact that they could have done something cheaper/better for you.
Jun 26, 2009, 11:10 pm
#3
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Liability
Would not do for me on grounds of liability insurance at PDX for EUG one time - so I paid myself.
Jun 27, 2009, 12:43 am
#4
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Jun 27, 2009, 12:57 am
#5
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http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...6-25-09-a.html
Happened on an AA flight too it seems, they at least ended up in PDX that night.
Happened on an AA flight too it seems, they at least ended up in PDX that night.