Airline Regulations keep 47 passengers trapped on Continental plane overnight

[Knightskye]

http://www.startribune.com/local/east/52798827.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD 3aPc:_Yyc:aUUT

I turned my TV on and someone on MSNBC was talking to someone who was trapped on the plane. On the bottom of the screen, it said "airline regulations prevented people from getting off the plane," so I thought I'd share.


The ExpressJet Airlines that operated the plane says the flight was diverted to Rochester because of Twin Cities thunderstorms, and that airline regulations prevented passengers from getting off the plane.

The airline crew on the plane reached their maximum work hours in the air, so another crew had to be flown in. The alternative of chartering a bus didn't work out. And letting the passengers into the Rochester airport was not possible because they would have to go through security screening again, and the screeners had gone home for the day.

I mean, I realize that screening them would make sure they're not a threat, but if you're keeping them stuck on a smelly plane for nine hours and they have a gun on them, you're asking for more trouble. :D

[Brian4Liberty]

Compete lunacy! The people who made that decision need to be fired.

[fr33domfightr]

During the last OJ trial, the prosecution charged OJ with kidnapping since he wouldn't let the occupants leave. Wouldn't the same charge apply to the airline, since they wouldn't let the passangers off the plane?? Aside from that, what sort of threat would they be if they let them stay in the terminal?


FF

[MelissaWV]

Sounds and smells like bullshit. First off, the pilots were able to get off the flight. Where did they go? They just left. No problems with security. Pilots do have to go through security checkpoints, and so the "people not being there" thing is bogus. The passengers could have gotten off, and they would still have had their boarding passes from the flight to get back in the next morning for a flight. They still had their identification. This was not an international flight, as far as the information given.


The Fairfield Inn by Marriott Rochester Airport is located on airport property within walking distance from the main terminal. <- from the airport's website.

The moment it was clear the airplane would not be taking off again soon, the passengers should have been allowed to decide their own fate. They could have gotten off, gone to a hotel, and then whined the next morning for a flight to their final destination. They could have camped out at the airport itself (I have done this before). Some airports/airlines provide blankets and pillows for just such an occasion. The flight crew itself could have provided "security" to corral the passengers within the terminal/wing, but at least there would have been space to stretch out, walk around, and fresh air to breathe, to mention nothing of better bathroom facilities. There would have been vending machines and water fountains.

In other words, there were options but no one chose to give the passengers those options.

[Rocket80]

This is when you need someone to martyr themselves and say "i have a bomb!", or just leave a note in the bathroom saying "bomb on the plane"....that should work.

[phill4paul]

W.G.A.S. Pop the doors, inflate the slides and get off the goddamn plane and tell them the Pentagon is trying to usurp states governmental authority during a crisis and you don't have time for them. Seriously, you hold me up over 1 hr and I'm slidin'. F*ck ya!

[fr33domfightr]

Kate Hanni is trying to put pressure on washington to do something. She started flyersrights.org for that purpose. There actually is a Bill to provide rights to flyers.

http://www.flyersrights.org/


I got stuck on a plane once, for 3 hours, in Denver. The bad thing is, the airline wouldn't tell family members at the arrival airport what was going on. They only told them they didn't know what was going on with the flight. That's BS! We were sitting on the gawd damn tarmac!!!

Short summary:
Plane leaves gate LATE.
Oops, it started snowing during the time of our late departure, so now we need to de-ice the plane.
Oops, there is only 1 set of de-icing equipment, so we must wait in a queue (wait our turn).
Uh oh, we've been in the queue too long, not enough fuel, we now need to go back to the gate to refuel.
Go to gate (do not deplane), wait for fuel truck.
Fuel truck finally arrives (ya!), now they can fill the tanks.
Leave gate, but, we still need to de-ice.
Since we left queue, we must now reenter queue, at the back of the line, WHAT!!?!?
We finally get de-iced (ya!!).
Bad news, since we've been held up, and due to the arrival airport closing down (and noise abatement),
we must divert to another airport.
Sorry if your family doesn't know where to go, airline doesn't tell them anything.
LATE arrival at different airport.
Airline: :-/
Call relatives to come pick up at the other airport.
Wait 45 minutes.
Finally picked up way late, tired.
Had to come in late the next day for work.



FF

[Cleaner44]

W.G.A.S. Pop the doors, inflate the slides and get off the goddamn plane and tell them the Pentagon is trying to usurp states governmental authority during a crisis and you don't have time for them. Seriously, you hold me up over 1 hr and I'm slidin'. F*ck ya!

That's what I'm sayin'!

[Elwar]

FAA regulations state that if the plane leaves the terminal it cannot return.

I've been stuck on the tarmac for 2 hours before...the captain said to thank the FAA for not being able to go back to the terminal. I received a check from Delta for about $75.

[Anti Federalist]

I recall, being stuck on the same sort of aircraft, trying to evacuate from Alexandria LA through Houston TX ahead of hurricane Rita.

The flight crew wasn't going to let us off because there was no shuttle bus driver to take us from the open ramp stairs to the terminal door, which was less than 50 feet away.

We, meaning the people onboard, quite literally mutinied, and told the flight crew in no uncertain terms, open the goddamn door or we'll do it for them, we're trying to get the hell out of the way of hurricane.

[Danke]

FAA regulations state that if the plane leaves the terminal it cannot return.


You probably misinterpretted what he said.

An airplane can and often does return to the gate.

Also, a passsenger can get off the airplane. In the OP situation, they had no security screeners, so my guess is that the PAX were told, once you get off, you cannot get back on. They landed around midnight and were on the plane until 6am when screeners came to work.

And I'd bet the airline personnel at the station expected to get a new crew down there a lot quicker than it happened, so what they initially thought was only going to take a couple of hours, kept getting delayed and delayed until it ended up being over 8 hours later.

[Elwar]

You probably misinterpretted what he said.

An airplane can and often does return to the gate.

Also, a passsenger can get off the airplane. In the OP situation, they had no security screeners, so my guess is that the PAX were told, once you get off, you cannot get back on. They landed around midnight and were on the plane until 6am when screeners came to work.

And I'd bet the airline personnel at the station expected to get a new crew down there a lot quicker than it happened, so what they initially thought was only going to take a couple of hours, kept getting delayed and delayed until it ended up being over 8 hours later.

Ok, from the quick search on the net it appears that FAA regulations require that passengers remain seated while the plane is on the tarmac or pushed back from the gate. And if you return to your gate you lose your place in line for take-off.