The flight attendant who helped land a plane when co-pilot had an emotional melt down was a hero

by Jamie Rhein on

If you ever saw the movie Airplane, the spoof on airplane disaster movies, you probably still laugh out loud thinking about it. Remember the scene when Julie Hagerty took over for the co-pilot but had to fight off the automatic co-pilot who was a blow-up doll? She was trying to help Striker (Robert Hays) land the plane.

That was a spoof.

In a real life story, a female flight attendant recently came to the assistance of a Boeing 767 commander after the co-pilot had a mental meltdown. On an Air Canada flight from Toronto to London’s Heathrow, the co-pilot, who had shown up for the flight acting slightly flustered and on edge — not his usual outgoing, chipper self — lost most of his marbles over the Atlantic.

After the co-pilot became increasingly belligerent and erratic, and refused to move from his seat, the flight commander asked the crew to help remove the co-pilot from his seat.

Once the co-pilot was removed — into the capable hands of doctors who happened to be on board — the flight attendant took over the co-pilot’s job. She had a commercial pilot’s license, thus was a huge help to the commander. The flight was diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where she helped land the plane. Upon arrival, the co-pilot spent 11 days in a mental hospital before being transported back to Canada.

Although this real-life drama happened this past January, the investigation has just been completed. The commander and flight attendant were found to be heroes, although that term wasn’t used in the official report.

The official report is an interesting read about how decisions are made in the air to keep both passengers and crew safe. It’s a PDF file and was sent along by Gadling’s own Kent Wien who has the insider track to about everything.

These girls were not quite as helpful as that flight attendant. Why not? Click the images to find out!

TSA to Create new Green “Family” Lane

by Grant Martin on

As holiday travel kicks into high gear, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has unveiled another tier to their security line scheme for getting passengers through checkpoints efficiently.

The basic system instilled earlier this year is currently called the “black diamond” self select system, which effectively attempts to separate passengers at the security checkpoint into groups. Those who know what they’re doing, or the experienced travelers move (quickly) through the black diamond line while the casual or inexperienced traveler will move (slower) through a separate blue square line.

Now there is a third group: The Green Circle line is designed for families traveling together and for those with medical liquids over 100mL. Theoretically, I suppose this would also be the slowest.

Note, if you have liquids still adhering to the 3-1-1 rule, you should still go through your regularly scheduled line.

In concept, black diamond self select system is a good idea, stratifying the hurried, experienced traveler away from the casual, relaxed passenger who takes his or her time at the checkpoint. But in practice, does it work? Say you’re a casual traveler, are late for your flight and show up to find that the black diamond line is 1/4 the length of the blue square line. You’re going to go to the short, line, right? Will things equalize out independent of line designation?

For the sake of less mayhem at the security checkpoint, I hope it works out. Stay tuned for some reports from the field.

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At Least One Country is Getting Tough on Hidden Airline Fees

by Josh Lew on

Hidden fees are ta reality of air travel. Fuel surcharges have finally dropped, but not gone away. then there are airport taxes, insurance charges and administrative costs. The small nation of Singapore is trying to crack down on undisclosed costs by forcing advertising to include a full disclosure of costs and fees. Eleanor Wong, chairwoman of the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS), said that a “media advisory” announced last year did not lead to the kind of full price disclosure that she had hoped. So more stringent measures had to be taken.

“The idea is that these are non-negotiable add-ons and should be treated as an integral part of the fare. With the practice of adding fuel and other surcharges becoming prevalent, we thought it would be useful to issue a specific clarification that would apply to the general principles of fair advertising specifically to the travel industry.”

To enforce this new law, ads that do not fully disclose prices will be suspended. For once, Singapore’s authoritarian bureaucracy might have actually done something useful.

[Via TTG Asia]

Southwest Announces Fares and Schedule for Minneapolis/St. Paul

by Josh Lew on

Southwest Airlines recently announced its schedule and fares for its service between Minneapolsi/St. Paul and Chicago Midway. The first flight will take off on March 8th, 2009. The announcement of fares is bound to create a bit of buzz for Southwest in the Twin Cities. Here’s why: The current price of a one-way airfare between MSP and Chicago is $426. Southwest’s lowest price will be $69 one-way (21 day advanced purchase required). The best round trip deal from the airlines that currently fly the route (Northwest/Delta and American) is well over $300. The math reveals that Northwest and others have some soul searching and price cutting to do in order to stay competitive on the route.

And, since Southwest also announced 8 daily flights, it appears that there will be plenty of seat avialible for those who want to give the proverbial finger to the big boys and save some cash in the process. When service launches, Southwest will only be flying the one route between MSP and Midway. However, from Midway, Southwest flies to 47 cities nationwide.

[Thanks Rick Seaney]

Who Wins and Who Loses in Delta-Northwest Merger?

by Josh Lew on

Gadling has been closely following the merger between air travel giants Delta and Northwest Airlines. The marriage of the two carriers was recently approved by the Department of Justice. But what does this mean for the people on the ground and in the air? Aside from seeing new color schemes on the staff and aircraft, there are all those frequent flier miles Northwest patrons have been saving. Jamie recently wrote about what to do with them. Customers stand to pay higher prices when the merger takes hold. Delta will be in a more dominant position than before. That usually means higher prices.

But what about the staff of Northwest Airlines? Here in Minneapolis, strikes by Northwest employees have been commonplace over the past few years. On the positive side, the merger will mean that Delta, which has recently been more stable than Northwest, will be in control. But job cuts are probably coming. Employees may find themselves cut from the company because their position has become redundant. Northwest will most likely see job cuts at their hub in Minneapolis, while Delta’s second tier hub in Cincinnati will lose out to Northwest’s Detroit base. So the airline’s employees will be working for a more stable company, if they can survive the job cuts. Because Delta has the upper hand in the whole process, most watchers expect Northwest workers will bear the brunt of the lay-offs.

[source]