In-flight incident

Harry-Spotter · Post by **Harry-Spotter** » 31 Jul 2005, 11:00

Hello
I don't know if this has been asked before, but I wanted to know if any of you have once witnessed in-flight incidents, like aborted take off, emergency landing, violence or rudeness of passenger... I never did although my BA flight to BOS was once diverted but this was no big deal hey

Thank you guys

moons · Post by **moons** » 31 Jul 2005, 11:26

Hello,

https://www.aviation24.be/posts4301-highlight.html

This was my own experience long time ago.

greets
moons

DAT202D · Post by **DAT202D** » 31 Jul 2005, 14:25

Well I have a story myself..

Last year (2004) in april I flew from Bangkok to Phuket with AirAsia (don't remember the flightnr). It was a very smooth flight and the aircraft was loaded with japanese people. All I know about the crew was that the captain was an American.
On final for runway 27 with a wide turn over the Andaman Sea we approached the airport. Flaps were 40 degrees and we were on the glideslope. Suddenly when we were about 20 meters from touchdown the captain accelerated heavily and we went for a go around. I can assure you if I would be able to put out my arm from the bottom of the plane I could reach the trees that were along the runway. Just to give you an impression how low we were. The Japanese passengers that were onboard weren't aware of what was happening, but I was pretty sure this wasn't normal at all !

Suddenly after frightening 5 minutes the captain apologized for the inconvenience and said to us that we had to perform a go around because the tower didn't gave us any green land for landing.

My idea about this was, why did we get a 'no go' when we were so close from touchdown ! 8O

Anyway, we approached 27 again and landed safely at Phuket. But this is definitely something I will not forget.

Cheers

hvv · Post by **hvv** » 31 Jul 2005, 20:16

Once, my SAS flight Stockholm-Amsterdam returned to Stockholm because (we were told) the hydraulics systems had failed. The captain's claim was that it only made the steering more effort. Later, we figured out that SAS wanted to repair it at an SAS base (understandable, although irritating if they could have continued safely).

A replacement plane took us to Amsterdam, where I just managed to catch my connecting KLM flight, which was just as well as I had visitors arriving at my home and they would have stood in front of a closed door if I'd missed that plane. Worst was that Schiphol at that time had security checks in all the 'fingers', and the security person told me that "if I would take more time to go to the airport, I wouldn't need to hurry"... I didn't have time to tell him that I'd come in from another of the 'fingers' on a late plane.

Hans.

hvv · Post by **hvv** » 31 Jul 2005, 20:20

This probably doesn't count as 'inflight', but I had an Air France flight Osaka-Paris that eventually was to be 8 hours late. In Osaka from the lounge you could see the plane and its surroundings very well, and it started to feel worrisome when they took off one of the engines and started looking in another one as if for comparison ('let's see, now, this nipple is there; that bolt is ...'). Apart from the delay, all was well eventually though.

Hans.

hvv · Post by **hvv** » 31 Jul 2005, 20:23

Another type of incident: Delta Express flight from Orlando to JFK and we were told that there was a passenger onboard who had an extreme allergy against nuts. The consequence was that no-one got anything to eat on that flight, since nut-based snacks was all they had on board...

Hans.

DAT202D · Post by **DAT202D** » 01 Aug 2005, 00:09

That reminds me of 2 additional things that happened to me while flying back from a 1 month holiday in Thailand.

I'm talking about the same period of that AirAsia story i've been telling some posts ago. The time was 23:45, boarding time at Bangkok of the Swiss A343. Normal boarding time was 23:45 but we could only board at 00:50. Some minutes before departure we found out that an incoming Boeing 747-400 had put too much throttle while taciing to the gates, causing a cargo container to hit one of our Swiss A343 engines. Finally the captain performed all security tests and we we given a go for departure. Still on that route, I arrived to late in Zurich because of the delay in Bangkok. I had to catch a connecting flight with swiss to Brussels. They tranferred me to a later flight (luckely the flight are very frequent between zurich and brussels). I was given a telephone card to call my family and about 4 hours later we could board the Avro RJ85. Minutes after being on board the electric power went down... Everytime when the captain wanted to start the engines, all power went down.. Again 2 hours delay until the mechanics fixed the problem. I was pretty scared because what if the system went down in full flight 8O

Anyway, since then I have never flown SWISS again...

lastrow · Post by **lastrow** » 01 Aug 2005, 10:08

Hi,

I had one incident that I still cannot believe so I put my question about this at the end. The flight was a late evening FRA-TXL that was a connecting flight from SIA' TPE-SIN-FRA (I really like the SIA's economy class BTW). The flight was last out of Frankfurt heading towards Berlin. I have shot a picture from inside the bus carrying the passenger to the parking position. Unfortunately it has some reflections - I must still learn the basics in terms of spotting.

see it at the end.

Well, the incident is quickly explained: the aircraft accelerated for takeoff, the engines were getting higher and higher ... but then after 5-10 seconds the aircraft did an emergency brake. The plane stopped in slightly like slanted position on the runway. After a couple of seconds the pilot told us that he needed to cancel the takeoff because of a car ("ein Fahrzeug") crossing the runway. He needed to await instructions from the tower. He told us that he could still takeoff, because the runway would be long enough.

After some wait, the pilot told us that because of his emergency brake he needs to go back to his parking position to check the brakes. The pilot told us that in "a couple of minutes" technicians will check the brakes and either we could takeoff or must leave the plane and wait for another. We waited inside the plane for about 45mins and then we took off to Berlin and had a normal flight.

So far for the facts. Now I have my big question: how likely do cars pass the runway during the take-off of an airplane? That scares me because the pilot could also have ignored such a thing on the runway? I have heard about psychological tests that there is a scary likeliness (like 5 percent) that pilots do not see any items on the runway during takeoff or landing - because they do not expect to see them there.

The second I need to say that I found the coverage of the passengers very poor. The pilot told us "in a couple of minutes" and then we needed to wait in the plane for 45mins. That was a really annoying experience and in such situation you can bet that there are some "special persons" who do not keep calm. considering myself, I did 3.5h TPE-SIN and 11h SIN-FRA before and was not amused neither to be stuck in this airplane in the late evening without any further update.

I think that it would really easy for a pilot to update the passengers what will go on and what the expectations are for the next 15 mins. would be better instead of letting them see at the end what happens. Also, after I did also some travel in company I found that not everyone is such plane-happy like I am. A lot of people feel generally scared of being inside an aircraft. Thus being stuck inside the plane at the parking position gives a real uncomfortable experience. Moreover I know that some economy tickets between Berlin and Frankfurt could be really expensive. I did a couple of beyond EUR 500,- flights and I must say that if spend that much money being left in the plane without any information is really rude!

But, anyway, at least something to tell. Hope it was not too boring for you!

- lr.

PS. sitting there, I tried to capture the plane parking at the opposite ...a South-African A340-600 ?!?

Harry-Spotter · Post by **Harry-Spotter** » 01 Aug 2005, 11:48

Thanks guys, those are all interesting stories to read.
About your question Lastrow, the problem of the car crossing the runway might have been caused by the tower that could have given the clearance to both the aircraft to take off and the car to cross. I read an article about a My Travel A321 starting to take off at Manchester while the tower had given the clearance to a Ryanair 737 to cross the runway. The A 321 stopped. The controller wasn't fired but had to retrain.
This kind of incident happens more than you could think.
And regarding the information to passengers, it's always quite vague.
My dad flew to Nice last month on SNBA and after take off the pilot announced in English ONLY that the plane (oo-dwa) had to go back to BRU. He had to ask a member of the cabin crew to know what was going on, otherwise he wouldn't have known. They waited an hour or so at BRU and then took off to Nice. I think it's a shame that the announcement was made only in English and not in French or Dutch, SNBA being our national airline... But great service he told me

Anyway, Keep writting those interesting stories.
Cheers

B744skipper · Post by **B744skipper** » 01 Aug 2005, 13:56

Harry-Spotter wrote:Anyway, Keep writing those interesting stories.

Well, I have three stories but those happened not in-flight, I hope that is no problem with you.

I'll start with the first one (1995), it happened when flying a Martinair DC-10 (at least my father told me that it was one) from Amsterdam to Corfu. It was an evening flight and everything went smooth and according to plan. We started our descent, and the captain told us that the runway at Corfu would be just long enough to accommodate such a large aircraft (the DC-10). Well, the landing was begun in total darkness, and we touched the runway. But shortly after touching down the captain applied full power and we rocketed of the runway again. Everyone was scared like hell inside the aircraft, and it suddenly went very quit. Only my dad and I seemed to enjoy this extra take-off and landing. We made a go-around and landed at the second attempt. The captain then came on and apologized for the inconvenience, but he had to go-around because there was not enough runway left to stop the first time.

My second experience was during the summer of 2003; I was flying back from Havana to Amsterdam (via Montego Bay) also on Martinair. The equipment this time was a Boeing 767-300. Normal during this time of year in that region, was that there where heavy thunderstorms. Also this evening, and it was already dark outside when boarding started. I was about to enter the jetway, when lightning struck our aircraft. It was soo close; one could hear the electricity spring in between the aircraft (not the rumble, which followed mili-seconds later). Everyone was frightened at the moment the rumble shook the terminal building. We started boarding anyway, only to be send back by a hysterical stewardess. After 15 mins waiting we could board the aircraft and when I touched my metal seatbelt, I could feel some electricity flowing away... 8O
Nevertheless, we took off and had a beautiful scene as the thunderstorm raged on in the distance, and we made it safe to Amsterdam.

The third "incident" I witnessed, was at Amsterdam's D-pier in July of this year (yes, about three weeks ago). As I was spotting aircraft at the D-pier, I could hear one man with an English accent raising his voice. As I got closer I could see that he was screaming at an employee, who was a window cleaner. He appeared to be from the Balkans. The English *sshole, who was in his twenties kept screaming racist remarks for one reason at him. He said things like "Black basterd, Sieg Heil, Heil Hitler" including the Hitler greeting and crap like that. The Schiphol employee was also getting aggressive by this sicko, and wanted to smack this English guy in the face. But colleagues of him kept him back, while gate personnel of the English guys flight where talking to him. Animated by the attention that he got from half the D-pier, he kept repeating his remarks over and over. Security personal at the other gate just looked at it, and seemed to have had a good laugh.

I wondered that they did not do anything, besides from laughing. Finally I walked on and saw some Border Police guards heading for the gate.
I guess that the English guy did not make his flight that day, and hope that he received punishment for the remarks he made as he not only offended the man he intended to offend, but A lot of other persons also can have been offended by this.

Well, not exactly in-flight incidents, but I hope this also will be of interest.

lastrow · Post by **lastrow** » 01 Aug 2005, 17:54

Since there we are now more on the incident-at-the-airport section

: I was once on a flight that was delayed for one hour because there was a bomb alert. police/specialists came to pull back a suitcase from the already loaded baggage. they have suspected it was a bomb inside. The flight was about 1 hour or maybe 90 mins late off schedule and then departed normally. However nothing much to see. scary issue with this is that this incident brought the idea of witnessing a crash inside the plane is possible for me :-//

-lr

Jumbolino · Post by **Jumbolino** » 01 Aug 2005, 21:07

another ZRH story happend back in 2000. I was flying on a LH Citiyline CR1 when we bagan our final approach into ZRH everything was normal and as I was lucky and had a window seat (last row nearby the F/A) I could see that the runway was about 1 meter under our plane and prepared of touchdown and - youp the CR1 put his noise in the air as straight ahead as a CR1 could do this and we (last row) looked onto the FA - she called the captain what happened (most people - same the FA didn't see that we where nearby the ground before) and the captain announced that the plane in front of us couldn't clear the runway on-time - sky guide what happened

?

And second approach after a turn round was fine but when I entered the transfer area I saw on all screens instead of arrival and departure times DR. Watson for Windows NT

No clue what happened this day on ZRH airport but third obvious thing was my connection flight with FU ATR42-500 made his flight "auf Sicht" means that he didn't go high enough that he could not see anything anymore till he left the area of Skyguide (I flow this route on same airpline this Summer timetable so often that I have gotten the feeling this was not normal for this time and this route) and short after the lake of Constance he reached normal altitude for this route (short hop)

Anyway .....

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 02 Aug 2005, 10:02

On an Icelandair 737-400 we were going for take off when the engines cut out and we had to make a return to the terminal. Cabin crew were in tears and passengers weren't very happy. When we landed in Glasgow we were met by the airport fire brigade. I never flew Icelandair again.

On an Air New Zealand flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles the steward made a remark implying that British passengers were stupid and incapable of filling in the US immigration forms. A British woman in the row in front of us gave him a dressing down and said how would he like it if we turned round and said that all Kiwis were stupid. We quietly applauded the woman for bringing this arrogant toad back down to earth because he very quickly apologised when he realised that all the passengers in that section of the plane were staring at him.

Harry-Spotter · Post by **Harry-Spotter** » 02 Aug 2005, 11:06

Well, not exactly in-flight incidents, but I hope this also will be of interest.

It is always nice to have your stories, whether it is on the aircraft or in the airport terminal.

Advisor · Post by **Advisor** » 02 Aug 2005, 12:29

lastrow wrote:Hi,

I had one incident that I still cannot believe so I put my question about this at the end. The flight was a late evening FRA-TXL that was a connecting flight from SIA' TPE-SIN-FRA (I really like the SIA's economy class BTW). The flight was last out of Frankfurt heading towards Berlin. I have shot a picture from inside the bus carrying the passenger to the parking position. Unfortunately it has some reflections - I must still learn the basics in terms of spotting. see it at the end.

Well, the incident is quickly explained: the aircraft accelerated for takeoff, the engines were getting higher and higher ... but then after 5-10 seconds the aircraft did an emergency brake. The plane stopped in slightly like slanted position on the runway. After a couple of seconds the pilot told us that he needed to cancel the takeoff because of a car ("ein Fahrzeug") crossing the runway. He needed to await instructions from the tower. He told us that he could still takeoff, because the runway would be long enough.

After some wait, the pilot told us that because of his emergency brake he needs to go back to his parking position to check the brakes. The pilot told us that in "a couple of minutes" technicians will check the brakes and either we could takeoff or must leave the plane and wait for another. We waited inside the plane for about 45mins and then we took off to Berlin and had a normal flight.

So far for the facts. Now I have my big question: how likely do cars pass the runway during the take-off of an airplane? That scares me because the pilot could also have ignored such a thing on the runway? I have heard about psychological tests that there is a scary likeliness (like 5 percent) that pilots do not see any items on the runway during takeoff or landing - because they do not expect to see them there.

The second I need to say that I found the coverage of the passengers very poor. The pilot told us "in a couple of minutes" and then we needed to wait in the plane for 45mins. That was a really annoying experience and in such situation you can bet that there are some "special persons" who do not keep calm. considering myself, I did 3.5h TPE-SIN and 11h SIN-FRA before and was not amused neither to be stuck in this airplane in the late evening without any further update.

I think that it would really easy for a pilot to update the passengers what will go on and what the expectations are for the next 15 mins. would be better instead of letting them see at the end what happens. Also, after I did also some travel in company I found that not everyone is such plane-happy like I am. A lot of people feel generally scared of being inside an aircraft. Thus being stuck inside the plane at the parking position gives a real uncomfortable experience. Moreover I know that some economy tickets between Berlin and Frankfurt could be really expensive. I did a couple of beyond EUR 500,- flights and I must say that if spend that much money being left in the plane without any information is really rude!

But, anyway, at least something to tell. Hope it was not too boring for you!

- lr.

PS. sitting there, I tried to capture the plane parking at the opposite ...a South-African A340-600 ?!?

Despite all, must say that you have the patience and yes thanks for sharing both your experience and yes the lovely pictures.

n5528p · Post by **n5528p** » 02 Aug 2005, 21:47

lastrow wrote:Now I have my big question: how likely do cars pass the runway during the take-off of an airplane? That scares me because the pilot could also have ignored such a thing on the runway? I have heard about psychological tests that there is a scary likeliness (like 5 percent) that pilots do not see any items on the runway during takeoff or landing - because they do not expect to see them there.

Of course that should NOT happen at all, not too many people have the right to drive in this area. Many people are allowed to drive on the APRON (loading personnel, red caps, handling agents, catering, cabin cleaners, police, security,...), less people are allowed to cross certain taxiways at special locations, even less people are allowed to drive on taxiways and only a fraction of the last group my drive on the runway. Generally, for TWYs and RWYs you need a clearance from ATC.

I am not quite sure about the psychological side - 5% seems very high to me. I would think that pilots are very alert to any objects on the runway...

Though it's hard to judge if you do not remember the source.

Regards, Bernhard

lastrow · Post by **lastrow** » 06 Aug 2005, 20:19

well right, I do not remember the source. I have read this in a magazine ... must be years ago. basically it was saying that the situation like take-off and landing is very stressful for pilots. then, the tasks a pilot does seem to go "by hand" - without reasoning. Thus objects on the runway can be ignored because the pilot has a strong focus on the operation of the plane.

but still, speculative, because I do not know the source.