March “lion” slams east coast

by Tom Johansmeyer on

From New Hampshire to the Carolinas, March came in, as the saying goes, like a lion. Snow, sleet and wind gusts reaching 30 mph have lead to for motor vehicle deaths, school closings and chaos at airports.

More than 900 flights have been canceled at New York area airports (JFK, Newark and LaGuardia). Hundreds more at Logan International Airport in Boston never left the ground, where the airport closed for more than half an hour to clear a runway. In Philadelphia, more than 40 people were stranded overnight.

Even the bus operators got into the delay and cancellation game. Greyhound and Peter Pan scrapped trips into and out of New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

So, get comfortable. It’s going to take a while to sort this mess out.

Airlines losing less of our baggage – for the wrong reasons

by Scott Carmichael on

Here is (what should be) a great piece of news from the aviation world – domestic US carriers are losing fewer of our bags.

A staggering 1.3 million bags were not lost when compared to statistics from the previous year.

Normally, airlines would have a good reason to be proud of this result. It could be because they are paying more attention to their baggage procedures, or simply that their staff are learning to be more respectful of our belongings, but sadly, the reason they are losing less luggage has a far more logical explanation.

People are not checking as many bags.

The airlines, in their infinite wisdom decided that checking a bag is a luxury that should be sold to us, in addition to our ticket fee.

Too many passengers refuse to pay this fee, so as more people drag all their luggage on board the plane, fewer bags have to be placed in the baggage hold. It all makes perfect sense.

American Airlines was the clear winner with a 26% improvement over 2007. But of course, American Airlines was also the first of the major carriers to introduce the pay-to-check baggage scheme.

Eventually, the whole thing will probably come back and bite the airlines in the ass. As more people carry more stuff on to the plane, departure times will get delayed, flight attendants will have to spend more time finding space for bags that don’t fit in the overhead compartment, and passengers will still get their bags checked for free when the crew have to do a gate check for any bags that can’t be stored in the cabin.

Reinforced cockpit safety doors may have had opposite effect in plane crash

by Scott Carmichael on

File this one under “tragic”.

According to eyewitness reports who were involved in the recent accident of Turkish Airlines flight 1951, the first officer of the aircraft was alive, but badly injured when the plane hit the ground.

Apparently, it took rescue workers 40 minutes to reach him, by which time he had passed away. The long delay was caused by the reinforced cockpit door, put in place after the 9/11 hijackings, and is of course intended to keep would-be terrorists from reaching the flight deck.

The door was so hard to penetrate, that rescuers gave up and cut a hole in the ceiling of the cockpit to reach the crew.

It’s a clear case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t – you need to keep the bad guys out, but if this makes it impossible to reach the crew during an accident it pretty much defeats its purpose.

I’m sure more news about the cockpit door will be released from more official sources during the investigation, and I am curious what pilots have to say about this incident.

A week at the Dulles customs area – cocaine, porn and $35,000

by Scott Carmichael on

Traveling often sucks – but a sure way to make the end of your trip even worse, is to get one of those cryptic red messages scribbled all over your customs form when you pass through the immigration line.

I’ve been selected for a closer look at my belongings about 20 times, and it can be a massive pain in the backside.

Customs officials usually go through every single item in my bags, going so far as to turn on my laptop and take it to a small room where I’m guessing a forensics specialist is looking for dirty photos.

Still, I’ve never had anything to hide, so other than a major inconvenience, it isn’t really the end of the world.

That said – after reading a Customs and Border Protection press release about “a week in the life of Dulles Airport”, I’ve got a lot more understanding and respect for what the CBP does.
Here are some of the highlights of just one week:

  • Dagoberto Giraldo Perez was arrested on an outstanding DEA warrant for importing 11 pounds (or more) of cocaine into the US.
  • A Japanese traveler tried to enter the US with child porn DVDs, and another passenger arriving from Peru was carrying an insane 66 bestiality DVDs
  • A lady arriving on a flight from London landed at Dulles with $35,000 in US currency, but refused to declare it, despite repeated requests. She left the airport with $300 and will have to plead her case in a petition to claim the rest of it. There is nothing inherently wrong with carrying that much cash, but you do need to declare anything over $10,000.
  • 8 passengers were turned over to the local police on outstanding arrest warrants, mainly involving charges of theft, fraud and insufficient funds.
  • The “dumbest passenger of the week” at the customs desk was a passenger from Vietnam who failed to declare 6 pork sausages. The CBP agriculture specialists gave the man numerous opportunities to amend his customs declaration form, but he decided it would be more fun to just keep lying. He was fined $175.

Then of course, there are the usual passengers who lied on their customs forms and tried to hide items like sausages, Absinthe and Cuban cigars in their luggage. Customs agents even seized 2 bottles of vodka from a minor arriving from Germany

So there you have it – the results from just one airport, during one week.

What surprised me most, was how many passengers simply fail to understand what they are up against. It takes a very special kind of stupid to prefer lying about the items right in front of you and and being fined, than simply amending your declaration.

The US Customs and Border Protection agency has a site dedicated to educating you about the various rules and regulations regarding items you can (and can not) bring back to the country. Many of those rules are pretty straightforward, but the most important thing to remember is to not be an ass at the customs desk and to remember that lying to the agent is probably not in your best interests.

Check out these other stories from the airport checkpoint!

Drunk flight attendant escorted off plane and arrested

by Jamie Rhein on

When Anthony Shlyshen showed up for work at Gatwick Airport he had had a few–actually several. According to this article, Shlyshen was more than three sheets to the wind when he thought he might be able to manage his easy Jet Airbus shift. Maybe he envisioned the plane’s narrow aisle would keep him from weaving too much, and holding onto the seats from time to time would keep him steady. The pilot thought otherwise and called the police who showed up to escort Shlyshen off the plane.

A breathalyser test showed that his alcohol level was 182 mcg, eight times over the legal alcohol limit for work. It was twice the level for driving. Given his age, 48, I’m wondering why he just didn’t call in sick. By 48, one would probably recognize what being schnockered looks like to other people, particularly those who are trained to notice.

Now Shlyshen could be facing jail time. A fine is guaranteed. Calling in sick would have definitely been the cheaper option.

More stories of booze gone bad in the skies