UA 949 (LHR-ORD) Diverts to KEF [20-Jul-2009]
Jul 20, 2009, 7:28 pm
#1
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UA 949 (LHR-ORD) Diverts to KEF [20-Jul-2009]
Looks like UA 949 ended up in Iceland today due to smoke in the cockpit. Everyone is safe and they get a day to "enjoy" Iceland, I guess. Return will be tomorrow afternoon. (Confirmed by UAL.com flight status.)
Chicago Tribune "Breaking News" is confused about the departure date.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...n-iceland.html
Any FlyerTalkers on board?
Chicago Tribune "Breaking News" is confused about the departure date.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...n-iceland.html
Any FlyerTalkers on board?
Jul 20, 2009, 8:41 pm
#2
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posted over newsstand this morning as well and the article i read had a photo of the a/c with slides deployed (photo in the other thread)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newss...-keflavik.html (merge?)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newss...-keflavik.html (merge?)
Jul 21, 2009, 12:49 am
#3
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We were on 958 ORD-LHR the night before, arriving at about 7:30am. I wonder if this is the same bird, although I'm guessing not, since we were apparently about the only operational 763 in ORD on the evening of the 19th. We left for LHR about an hour late, and our pilot told us that we were on the 3rd plane they tried, but that neither of the other two were "airworthy" - his word. They apparently rushed the incoming LHR-ORD over to us from INTL so we'd be able to take off. When we arrived at the ORD at around 3:00 the 6:05 flight was already delayed to 7:30.
These unreliability of these planes is really starting to trouble me.
These unreliability of these planes is really starting to trouble me.
Jul 21, 2009, 1:45 am
#4
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Update
Local media is reporting that all the passengers overnighted in hotels in Reykjavik and that a replacement United plane is being flown to Iceland to pick up the passengers today to continue their journey.
The incident is being blamed on a malfunctioning transformer according to the media report.
The incident is being blamed on a malfunctioning transformer according to the media report.
Jul 21, 2009, 1:47 am
#5
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nice (for some) passengers to get to see Reykjavik and have a soak in a spa. Not so nice for UA to probably lose all revenue from this flight, what with hotels, maintenance, etc in a very expensive place....
Jul 21, 2009, 2:40 am
#6
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Just imitating Icelandair's free stopover, no?
Jul 21, 2009, 4:46 am
#7
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posted over newsstand this morning as well and the article i read had a photo of the a/c with slides deployed (photo in the other thread)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newss...-keflavik.html (merge?)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newss...-keflavik.html (merge?)
http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/popup/m...5&imgid=504445
Jul 21, 2009, 10:24 am
#8
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Slides were not deplyed. Take a closer look at the picture.
http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/popup/m...5&imgid=504445
http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/popup/m...5&imgid=504445
Jul 21, 2009, 10:50 am
#9
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Nice opportunity to buy a cheap *A RTW!
Jul 21, 2009, 12:10 pm
#10
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Jul 21, 2009, 12:17 pm
#11
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We were on 958 ORD-LHR the night before, arriving at about 7:30am. I wonder if this is the same bird, although I'm guessing not, since we were apparently about the only operational 763 in ORD on the evening of the 19th. We left for LHR about an hour late, and our pilot told us that we were on the 3rd plane they tried, but that neither of the other two were "airworthy" - his word. They apparently rushed the incoming LHR-ORD over to us from INTL so we'd be able to take off. When we arrived at the ORD at around 3:00 the 6:05 flight was already delayed to 7:30.
These unreliability of these planes is really starting to trouble me.
These unreliability of these planes is really starting to trouble me.
Jul 21, 2009, 12:25 pm
#12
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ESPN writer on the flight
ESPN writer Gene Wojciechowski was on the flight.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/colum...ene&id=4344740
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/colum...ene&id=4344740
Jul 21, 2009, 1:18 pm
#13
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As much as I envy anyone that gets to visit wonderful Reykjavik, I do not envy their means of getting there. An inflight smoke/fire emergency is about as stressful an inflight situation I could ever imagine.
Jul 21, 2009, 1:35 pm
#14
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 4,220
The attendant told the 178 passengers to review the emergency instructions located in the seat pockets. The last thing I heard was how to grab my ankles and put my head down when the plane hit the runway.
...
We didn't know what was going to happen. Nobody told us a thing. We didn't know if we were going to try to land in the water or reach the runway.
...
We didn't know what was going to happen. Nobody told us a thing. We didn't know if we were going to try to land in the water or reach the runway.
Jul 22, 2009, 2:07 pm
#15
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UA949 emergency landing
My wife and I were in business on that flight, and anyone who thinks it wasn't a near death experience just has no idea what was going on. Anyone who thinks there's humor about the 24 hours we spent in Iceland, the group of us spread out over 3 hotels in two different towns, with no communication from UA, whatsoever, about the status of anything, I would invite to share the experience under the conditions we were under. Let me add to the posted ESPN article.
About 2 1/2 hours out of London, our electric power went out. The entertainment system and the ability to adjust our seats disappeared. Then we started smelling smoke. Then the flight attendants were racing through the aisles collecting everything in sight. Then the announcement came on that we were preparing for an emergency landing, further details to follow.
I don't want to make this into an epic, so let me tell you the events that followed: 1) We asked the flight attendants passing by if we were going down on land, or in the water. We were told they did not know yet. 2) We asked a flight attendant we had earlier been friendly with, whether she thought we were going to "make it". She said she could only tell us that they were doing everything they had been trained to do, and that was all that they could say. 3) We were given instructions for crash landing, about grabbing our ankles when they shouted the instruction just before impact. 4) We heard a flight attendant telling a passenger at an exit door that, if for some reason she couldn't get there, he should get that door open and start helping passengers out. 5) We saw a flight attendant removing a picture of her family from her purse to put in a pocket, and she was crying. 6) When the pilot's voice inadvertently came over the speaker, he shouted "We've got to get the hell out of here!" with an urgency that's difficult to describe (we've since learned from next day's crew that the smoke was so thick in the cockpit, that the pilots could not see the controls, and were wearing masks).
7) My wife and I talked about trying to stay together if we survived a landing, and basically said our good-byes to cover what seemed like was going to be an imminent disaster. Having talked to many of our fellow passengers as we rested at the airport together in Iceland, we know that our own thoughts during the flight were universal, not unique, nor hysterical. On the flight, my wife and I talked about our children and grandchildren. I actually had hopes that if this was going to be a disaster, that death would be quick, not prolonged.
When we did touch down, having dumped our fuel, we were met by fire trucks and ambulances. They rolled stairways to both sides of the fuselage, so the chutes were not deployed. As soon as the plane stopped, the crew literally yelled at us to get immediately off, do not collect any personal possessions whatsoever, and get as quickly as possible as far from the plane as possible. When we got to the ground, the emergency crew directed us to move quickly to places far away from the plane, and behind various firetrucks parked nearby.
My wife and I are both 1K's, and I am a lifetime AA platinum. We've flown hundreds of thousands of miles. To anyone who thinks any of this sounds hysterical or exaggerated, I can only tell you you're wrong. Very wrong. I wish you could ask any flight attendant on that flight if there was an early point at which they thought the flight was going to "make it". I can tell you, the answer is no.
UA has done its best to cover up the magnitude of this near tragedy. In the Orwellian letter given to us on the flight home the next day, signed by Sherri L Hermance of Customer Relations, wherein she writes about the "compensation" choices we would have in exchange for nearly killing us, she began a paragraph, "The decision to re-route Flight 949 was precautionary in order to evaluate a mechanical issue and we are sorry for any distress or concern you may have experienced." That's about as bizarre as UA saying how grateful they were that Dave Carroll made the world aware of what AH's UA were in their handling of damage claims.
I've spoken with the 1K desk regarding other matters since arriving home, and they told me they had heard about the flight "diversion", but had no idea it was that kind of emergency. UA really does not want anyone to know how near a total disaster this was. I suspect that if we were just a little farther from Iceland, I wouldn't be writing this right now. The ESPN columnist, who we met at the airport before the flight home, not only tells it like it was, he really understates what was going on in the cabin. Having 30 to 40 minutes to contemplate one's potential demise is pretty surreal.
Obviously, we're grateful to the pilots whose heroic work got us to land. I certainly don't, however, assume this was unavoidable. I assume it could well have been a maintenance issue. But the thing that angers me the most is UA's utter unwillingness to acknowledge what was really going on in that smoke filled cabin above the Atlantic, and to insult us by suggesting that all of this was "precautionary", as if it was a choice they made, rather than an emergency that nearly resulted in a tragedy.
About 2 1/2 hours out of London, our electric power went out. The entertainment system and the ability to adjust our seats disappeared. Then we started smelling smoke. Then the flight attendants were racing through the aisles collecting everything in sight. Then the announcement came on that we were preparing for an emergency landing, further details to follow.
I don't want to make this into an epic, so let me tell you the events that followed: 1) We asked the flight attendants passing by if we were going down on land, or in the water. We were told they did not know yet. 2) We asked a flight attendant we had earlier been friendly with, whether she thought we were going to "make it". She said she could only tell us that they were doing everything they had been trained to do, and that was all that they could say. 3) We were given instructions for crash landing, about grabbing our ankles when they shouted the instruction just before impact. 4) We heard a flight attendant telling a passenger at an exit door that, if for some reason she couldn't get there, he should get that door open and start helping passengers out. 5) We saw a flight attendant removing a picture of her family from her purse to put in a pocket, and she was crying. 6) When the pilot's voice inadvertently came over the speaker, he shouted "We've got to get the hell out of here!" with an urgency that's difficult to describe (we've since learned from next day's crew that the smoke was so thick in the cockpit, that the pilots could not see the controls, and were wearing masks).
7) My wife and I talked about trying to stay together if we survived a landing, and basically said our good-byes to cover what seemed like was going to be an imminent disaster. Having talked to many of our fellow passengers as we rested at the airport together in Iceland, we know that our own thoughts during the flight were universal, not unique, nor hysterical. On the flight, my wife and I talked about our children and grandchildren. I actually had hopes that if this was going to be a disaster, that death would be quick, not prolonged.
When we did touch down, having dumped our fuel, we were met by fire trucks and ambulances. They rolled stairways to both sides of the fuselage, so the chutes were not deployed. As soon as the plane stopped, the crew literally yelled at us to get immediately off, do not collect any personal possessions whatsoever, and get as quickly as possible as far from the plane as possible. When we got to the ground, the emergency crew directed us to move quickly to places far away from the plane, and behind various firetrucks parked nearby.
My wife and I are both 1K's, and I am a lifetime AA platinum. We've flown hundreds of thousands of miles. To anyone who thinks any of this sounds hysterical or exaggerated, I can only tell you you're wrong. Very wrong. I wish you could ask any flight attendant on that flight if there was an early point at which they thought the flight was going to "make it". I can tell you, the answer is no.
UA has done its best to cover up the magnitude of this near tragedy. In the Orwellian letter given to us on the flight home the next day, signed by Sherri L Hermance of Customer Relations, wherein she writes about the "compensation" choices we would have in exchange for nearly killing us, she began a paragraph, "The decision to re-route Flight 949 was precautionary in order to evaluate a mechanical issue and we are sorry for any distress or concern you may have experienced." That's about as bizarre as UA saying how grateful they were that Dave Carroll made the world aware of what AH's UA were in their handling of damage claims.
I've spoken with the 1K desk regarding other matters since arriving home, and they told me they had heard about the flight "diversion", but had no idea it was that kind of emergency. UA really does not want anyone to know how near a total disaster this was. I suspect that if we were just a little farther from Iceland, I wouldn't be writing this right now. The ESPN columnist, who we met at the airport before the flight home, not only tells it like it was, he really understates what was going on in the cabin. Having 30 to 40 minutes to contemplate one's potential demise is pretty surreal.
Obviously, we're grateful to the pilots whose heroic work got us to land. I certainly don't, however, assume this was unavoidable. I assume it could well have been a maintenance issue. But the thing that angers me the most is UA's utter unwillingness to acknowledge what was really going on in that smoke filled cabin above the Atlantic, and to insult us by suggesting that all of this was "precautionary", as if it was a choice they made, rather than an emergency that nearly resulted in a tragedy.