US Air flight 794 diverted to FLL
Mar 24, 2011, 2:56 pm
#1
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Hey all. I am currently on US 794 MIA-PHL. We diverted after 10 minutes to FLL. No announcement, no nothing. Apparently this was for fuel. Did they forget to fill up in MIA or something. People were rather nervous and now we are stuck in FLL risking missed connections. Color me annoyed
Hey all. I am currently on US 794 MIA-PHL. We diverted after 10 minutes to FLL. No announcement, no nothing. Apparently this was for fuel. Did they forget to fill up in MIA or something. People were rather nervous and now we are stuck in FLL risking missed connections. Color me annoyed
Mar 24, 2011, 3:01 pm
#2
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I'm pretty sure from what was on the news even locally in DC that the fuel depot at MIA had a fire that was to cause delays. Did they not even announce it at the gate or in the air? That seems strange that they wouldn't mention it.
Mar 24, 2011, 3:06 pm
#3
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Didn't announce anything till we landed in FLL and were greated with 'welcome to fort lauderdale where ther local time is 431' and it was the FA not the captain who announced it. Very poor communications
Didn't announce anything till we landed in FLL and were greated with 'welcome to fort lauderdale where ther local time is 431' and it was the FA not the captain who announced it. Very poor communications
Mar 24, 2011, 3:09 pm
#4
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and per flightaware, you should be leaving FLL within the half hour.
Mar 24, 2011, 5:16 pm
#6
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It seems that every flight that left MIA on US diverted to FLL for fuel except for the originators which wouldn't have been prepared for the fuel needed to get to FLL.
Mar 24, 2011, 5:24 pm
#7
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Lousy comms or not, I'd be thankful I was on US and not AA out of MIA. What a mess that must be for AA.
Plus announcing it before take off is just going to cause a plane full of needless moaning and groaning over something that there's no control over, might as well get underway and let the chips fall where they do.
Plus announcing it before take off is just going to cause a plane full of needless moaning and groaning over something that there's no control over, might as well get underway and let the chips fall where they do.
Mar 24, 2011, 5:54 pm
#8
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Inexcusable that an announcement was not made at the gate at time of boarding about the delay in trip time to PHL due to fueling rationing.
And, at the very very least, the captain had a responsibility to alert all pax of the diversion before it happened. Why on earth not do it? It only amounts to frustration and worry.
Major
And, at the very very least, the captain had a responsibility to alert all pax of the diversion before it happened. Why on earth not do it? It only amounts to frustration and worry.
Major
Mar 24, 2011, 6:14 pm
#9
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Just going out on a limb here. Most people dont pay attention to announcements. I will bet that the captain in his welcome aboard speech said something to the effect that we will be stopping in FLL for fuel and I bet he had something cheeky to say about it the reason why. I haven't ever been on a flight that the pilot, F/A's or gate personnel noted what was going to happen. The biggest problem is people dont pay attention and then get upset when something happens that they were informed about. FF are the worst offenders as they tend to be complacent and don't pay attention to announcements.
Mar 24, 2011, 6:44 pm
#10
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I think that is going out on a limb. Given that the vast bulk of pax on a MIA-PHL flight are connecting in PHL, this would've been big news since an hour's delay would cause many (if not most) of them to misconnect.
I cannot fathom a pilot's announcement explaining this unusual diversion to a nearby city shortly after takeoff wouldn't have been heard by every passenger on that flight. When I've been on flights where irrops were announced, audible groans could be heard and pax immediately begain talking with each other about it. Pax also asked FAs countless questions about misconnecting, etc, etc, etc. IRROPS for most pax is a big deal.
Moreover, I would've expected the GA's in MIA to encourage quick and early boardings so that the planes could have a shot at as early a pushback as possible given the known delay of diverting to FLL before continuing.
I wasn't there, so I'm just going on the OP's version here. All I'm saying is that, if (as the OP outlines) pax were not aware of the diversion until it was occurring, that's just unacceptable for 100 reasons.
I cannot fathom a pilot's announcement explaining this unusual diversion to a nearby city shortly after takeoff wouldn't have been heard by every passenger on that flight. When I've been on flights where irrops were announced, audible groans could be heard and pax immediately begain talking with each other about it. Pax also asked FAs countless questions about misconnecting, etc, etc, etc. IRROPS for most pax is a big deal.
Moreover, I would've expected the GA's in MIA to encourage quick and early boardings so that the planes could have a shot at as early a pushback as possible given the known delay of diverting to FLL before continuing.
I wasn't there, so I'm just going on the OP's version here. All I'm saying is that, if (as the OP outlines) pax were not aware of the diversion until it was occurring, that's just unacceptable for 100 reasons.
Mar 24, 2011, 10:45 pm
#11
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Playing devil's advocate, it's also out on a limb to assume that many or most would misconnect by the brief delay. The flight was only 32 min. late: due in at 7:06, arrived 7:32. Looking at PHL departures and considering minimum connect time, I think there are probably two flights that could have conceivably misconnected...and why anyone would connect in PHL to get to ORD or MKE from MIA is beyond me.
Mar 25, 2011, 5:55 am
#12
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Been there, done that myself. (PHL-MCO-PHX-ANC-PHX-BOS-LGA-PHL)
Mar 25, 2011, 7:23 am
#13
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Flyertalkers are losing their mojo. Did you call to ask for 500 miles for the MIA-FLL segment? Sheesh.
Mar 25, 2011, 7:42 am
#14
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OP - here...There was no announcement. All the captain said pre 1st takeoff was flight attendants we are #1 for departure please be seated. There was no announcement whatsoever about the diversion. In fact, the gentleman sitting in front of me turned around and asked 'Was there an announcement'.
In the end it wasnt a big deal because we got to PHL only 30some minutes late, but some people were definitely worried when we landed in FLL. I just appreciate open communication lines.
I think I have to request mileage credit
I was flying on my UA FF# so I think I will get approx 24miles and 1 segment
Mar 25, 2011, 8:32 am
#15
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OP do you mean there was no announcement till you began descent into FLL, or no announcement till you landed in FLL?
With the high number of flights needing diversion and the proximity of FLL, the point of diversion may not have been known till the last minute. So the crew may have known there'd be a diversion, but didn't know if it would be FLL, MCO, TPA etc.
So the announcement that didn't get made would have been "we will be making a refueling stop but we don't know where," which would be likely to cause much confusion.
Maybe it's one of those times when there's no good answer!
With the high number of flights needing diversion and the proximity of FLL, the point of diversion may not have been known till the last minute. So the crew may have known there'd be a diversion, but didn't know if it would be FLL, MCO, TPA etc.
So the announcement that didn't get made would have been "we will be making a refueling stop but we don't know where," which would be likely to cause much confusion.
Maybe it's one of those times when there's no good answer!