Emergency landing Avro Brussels Airlines 16 april

[shockcooling]

I was once on a bus from De Lijn, we had a technical problem, it really was scary for a moment, the bus stopped, everybody got out, we had the chance to take the next bus.
This was top notch service, what I expected, so no big news item in Het Nieuwsblad needed

[tolipanebas]

I was once on a bus from De Lijn, we had a technical problem, it really was scary for a moment, the bus stopped, everybody got out, we had the chance to take the next bus.
This was top notch service, what I expected, so no big news item in Het Nieuwsblad needed

OMG!

No, weren't there any psychologists or doctors around then?

Or about 10 staff members to assist you with stepping from one bus onto the other via the sidewalk?

And you just got to take the next scheduled bus? No specially sent in (albeit completely identical) bus?

Oh no! This is insane! I mean, there we even children on that delayed bus! And one of them even cried!

You did at least get a free lifetime pass from "de Lijn" to make up for this 'mess' I should hope, didn't you?



(just kidding... but for one reason, when it comes to a plane, this is exactly what some people say)

[airazurxtror]

The passenger :
Once bussed to the terminal, we were left to ourselves without help, without any information. Tolipanebas:
to me it seems everything was dealt with in a perfectly normal way

What is the good of paying the price of a "full-service" airline if they let you down same as or even worse than an LCC ?

[Desert Rat]

It's always funny to see how much energy is spent to minimize a problem when it occurs on one hand,....and the efforts to maximize it when it comes to FR bashing...

Sooo Typical...

[tolipanebas]

The passenger :
Once bussed to the terminal, we were left to ourselves without help, without any information. Tolipanebas:
to me it seems everything was dealt with in a perfectly normal way

What is the good of paying the price of a "full-service" airline if they let you down same as or even worse than an LCC ?

The difference between a No Service Airline and a Network Carrier is in the fact the latter guarantees to get you to your final destination with a minimum delay and at no extra personal costs, either through rebooking you on another flight of theirs or on one of their alliance partners.

With No Service Airlines, sometimes operating on very thin schedules (like once or twice weekly for instance), you're bound for a much longer wait for sure, not to mention any additional costs during your wait will obviously be fully yours entirely.

Other than that, what do YOU expect on top in case of irregularities?
Hotel rooms for a 3 hour delay? Upgrades for all? Lounge access?
Somebody to hold the hand of from the moment you deboard the first plane, till the moment you get on the next flight (3 hours later)?

If you suddenly can't find your way around a terminal where you've left from just an hour ago, or you don't understand the meaning of the many signs saying 'PASSENGER SERVICE CENTER' any longer, then quite frankly you shouldn't be traveling on your own in the first place. Hundrerds of connecting pax seem to be perfectly able to cope with the "complexity" of flying through a hub and making use of its facilities on a daily basis. If you're the odd one out for one reason, you should specify the need for special assistance when booking your ticket: Network Carriers are known to offer such services to all of their customers without any problem, contrary to a certain Irish No Service Airline as we've to read here once more only recently...

(sarcasm-mode off)

[airazurxtror]

In such occurence (aircraft engine on fire at take-off and emergency landing), the passengers should have been taken care of, after stepping out of the catch, as a group of persons all in the same predicament : offered a cup of coffe at the very least and, as a group, informed of the follow-up proposed by Brussels Airlines; which should have provided a replacement aircraft if possible or at least spontaneously do the utmost to carry its cutomers to their destination.
Not just : "go to the customer desk and see what they can do for you ".
In other words : trek ha plan !

It's not the first time, and it's a pity that such an airline does not have a more customer-minded attitude. It feels more like "the customer is always wrong".

[tolipanebas]

In such occurence (aircraft engine on fire at take-off and emergency landing)

The engine was not on fire and the plane didn't do an emergency landing, please get your facts right.
The plane flew holdings for almost an hour prior to landing to reduce weight: it can't have been on fire, nor can it have done an emergency landing then, can it? Unless it's from teflon of course!

Pax were taken care off in a suitable way, but some wrongfully still felt as if they had only narrowly escaped dead, despite there being no indication as to such whatsoever: that's not a failure to live up to any commercial obligations like you imply, but rather a clear rejection of any irrational expectations and rightfully so. No need to pretend as if disaster nearly struck, when in reality it didn't.

A replacement aircraft like you ask for can also exist of just rebooking those still willing to go onto the next flight, which was already less than 3 hours later; it might be hard to organize an extra flight in a shorter time frame during peak holiday periods anyway, so getting you on the next scheduled flight is most likely the swiftest option anyway...

[airazurxtror]

Tolipanebas, you are always right.
I guess you thus are a member of the Brussels Airlines Customer Service department; if not, you deserve to be !

[sean1982]

Other than that, what do YOU expect on top in case of irregularities?
Hotel rooms for a 3 hour delay? Upgrades for all? Lounge access?
Somebody to hold the hand of from the moment you deboard the first plane, till the moment you get on the next flight (3 hours later)?

Strange that people DO expect that from FR, cause otherwise the service was crap

The difference between a No Service Airline and a Network Carrier is in the fact the latter guarantees to get you to your final destination with a minimum delay and at no extra personal costs, either through rebooking you on another flight of theirs or on one of their alliance partners.

Must have missed something, what is in this paragraph that Ryanair is not doing?
Lats volcanic ash crisis I remember people saying here, they spend 5 days in a hotel room in TFS by FR, and they were put on the first flight back home? At no extra personal cost.
Yes yes, EU law stipulate that all airlines provide the same compensation in case of a delayed or cancelled flight, even though NO airline CEO agrees with it, "full service", or not.

In dutch we say: meten met 2 maten en gewichten tolipanebas

[Airbus330lover]

Tolipanebas, you are always right.
I guess you thus are a member of the Brussels Airlines Customer Service department; if not, you deserve to be !

For information !

Sorry, but in this case Tolipanebas is right.
Engine problem far from an emergency !

[tolipanebas]

Must have missed something, what is in this paragraph that Ryanair is not doing?

getting you to your destination with minimum delay, for instance by rerouting you through an alliance partner's hub for a start, maybe???

if the FR flight to XYZ falls out, they'll offer to rebook you to the next available FR flight, which can be as much as a week later even.... I'd say that is a pretty big difference from a Full Service Airlines' approach where you'll be on your way either on another flight of theirs or alternatively booked on a plane of another airline within a couple of hours at worst.

If you really think a massive delay of up to several days even is just the same as a roll-over of your ticket to the next flight just a couple of hours later or alternatively a rerouting through for instance FRA, MUC or ZRH the same evening, then okay, I am indeed biased.

[JEC]

about 10' after taking off flight 3175 on Saturday 16, a laud noise was heard and the plane had a total silence.
Soon after this the purser run to the back of the plane and passanger informed that there was fire on left engine. 10' after the pilot indicated that in fact was a fire on the left engine and that they were succesful in cutting fuel off and there was no longer a fire.
later the purser- who by the way- did a great job informed us that because of the weight of the plane we couldn't land right away, therefore, we flew for another 20' abefore succsfully we landed in Brussels. Scary for a while but the pilot did a great job. The pilot declared an emergency but it was lifted after the fire was under control.
I was one of the passengers on the plane.

[earthman]

Question here, with three operating engines, could the plane not have flown to Rome all the same? I know it is rather cheaper to fix the engine in your home base, but other than that, was there sufficient cause to return to the airport of origin instead of just flying on to Rome?

[Desert Rat]

was there sufficient cause to return to the airport of origin?

I think so... ...

[teddybAIR]

The problem with this type of engine failures is that you can never be 100% sure of the absence of peripheral damage to other systems. The best course of action is thus to land the aircraft as soon as practicable where the aircraft can be inspected to guarantee the integrity of all systems.

[Desert Rat]

You are right, and on top of this I really doubt that there would be enough FOB to reach Roma on three engines.

[ExSabena]

Funny this episode about the Cabin Crew loosing self control .....

not really professinal !

[luckyme]

if the FR flight to XYZ falls out, they'll offer to rebook you to the next available FR flight, which can be as much as a week later even.... I'd say that is a pretty big difference from a Full Service Airlines' approach where you'll be on your way either on another flight of theirs or alternatively booked on a plane of another airline within a couple of hours at worst.

If you really think a massive delay of up to several days even is just the same as a roll-over of your ticket to the next flight just a couple of hours later or alternatively a rerouting through for instance FRA, MUC or ZRH the same evening, then okay, I am indeed biased.

Rubbish. If a FR flight has a MAJOR tech problem (like an engine failure) and a mid air return, one of the standby aircraft will be activated and positioned to pick up the pax immediately. It can happen to any company but I would of thought the LH group would do the same.

[Airbus330lover]

Not true.....
Consider the regular (and fair) diversion (in many case). FR prefer to fly back empty....
And no solution for the stranded PAX ! (experienced twice in 2010 !)
If FR has to wait for the normal pax, they must skip the next rotation !
If you mean that FR wait for the passengers... and activate another aircraft for the next rotation....you'r totally mis.

But i still flight with FR AND SN

[luckyme]

I said in the case of an inflight shutdown or other serious event, an immediate replacement will be found.

In the case of diversions due to bad weather for example, the preferred plan is to wait for the pax to be bussed or position the aircraft empty and collect them subject to an improvement in the weather. The only time the flight is cancelled is if waiting is not possible due crew hours or as is the case with CRL, the knock on effect would mean multiple cancellations because of the curfew. It is only a last resort to fly back empty as it creates more problems than it solves.

Today (as of 19:45z), for example, out of 1500+ FR flights there have been 0 diversions, 0 cancellations and 6 positioning flights to solve various problems and reduce delays.