Gun carrying jetBlue pilot in hot water after embarrassing backpack incident

by Scott Carmichael on

In what can only be described as a monumental screwup, a pilot for jetBlue managed to lose sight of his federally issued gun, and spent the next 40 minutes trying to locate it.

The pilot in question, Michael Connery Jr. was boarding his plane when he set his backpack down to chat with a fellow crew member. In the boarding process, a passenger on a different flight picked up her own bags, and accidentally grabbed Connery’s backpack as well.

Packed inside that backpack was a 40 caliber handgun – issued as part of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, operated by the TSA.

Once the passenger realized the bag was not hers, she set it down on an empty seat on her plane. Another passenger pointed the unaccompanied backpack out to a crew member, who alerted the authorities. Meanwhile, Connery had already delayed his own flight while he tried to locate the backpack – taking 40 minutes to contact the airline to the incident.

Once he got his bag back, TSA officials confiscated his gun while they conducted their investigation.

While the armed flight officer program may be a good idea on paper, simple mistakes like this show how easy it is to completely defeat all security measures at the airport. Had the plane with the backpack departed on time, a gun could have been on its way to Florida in the hands of a random stranger.

Ask Gadling: Does it really cost $25,000 to repack an airplane evacuation slide?

by Scott Carmichael on

This question is obviously triggered after the JetBlue incident last week – when Steven Slater deployed the emergency slide, the media claimed the damage was around $25,000 just to repack the slide.

So, I did a bit of research, and contacted a friend who actually manages a large international airline. The answer was quite surprising – $25,000 is on the very, very cheap side.

To get the deployed slide back to its usable condition, they don’t just roll it up, they actually have to deflate it and remove the entire slide assembly from the door of the plane, load it into a truck and bring it to a certified maintenance facility.

Most large airlines will have a couple of spare slides, so they can replace the deployed slide relatively quickly, but they can’t use the plane until it has operational slides. The deployed slide has to be inflated again and checked for any leaks – then it is professionally repacked, and its inflation canister is re-pressurized or replaced. Only after it has been fully inspected can it be put aside while the airline waits for the next incident that requires a new slide.

The total damage on a commercial jet can be as much as $50,000. This includes the cost of replacing the slide, and the time lost when the jet is out of service. If the airline is lucky, the plane will be close to a facility that can replace it, in the worst case, they need to load a replacement slide onto another plane and ferry it in, along with a maintenance crew.

So there you have it – an evacuation slide is quite a bit more complex than the moon bounce at the local Chuck E. Cheese.

[Photo from: Flickr / Joel Franusic]

Delusional JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater wants his job back

by Tom Johansmeyer on


Who wants a job that drove him so nuts he went ballistic and jumped out the back door of a plane? Well, that would be Steven Slater, of course. The flight attendant now famous for popping the escape chute, grabbing a beer and going home from JFK airport in Queens – who has been thinking about this for the past two decades – wants his job back. And, that makes sense, since he isn’t likely to get his own reality show.

The man whose father was a pilot and mother was a flight attendant has the aviation industry “in his blood” says his Legal Aid defense attorney, Howard Turman, who continues, “That’s what he likes to do.” Of course, the fact that Slater has a funny way of showing it went unmentioned.
According to USA Today:

“His hope is to return to the aviation business,” Turman is quoted as saying by The Associated Press. AP writes that “Turman portrayed his client as hardworking, loyal and surprised by his own overnight fame. Slater ‘wants to thank the world for its understanding,’ Turman said, referring to the Internet and media response to his client’s public unraveling.”

And, Slater wants to go back to JetBlue. After all, Slater believes, according to Turman, “JetBlue is a wonderful airline which he (Slater) has loved working for, and wishes to continue working for. He understands the problems, but it has been a fair and understanding airline.”

Now, it seems, the limits of that understanding will be tested. JetBlue seems unlikely to welcome the wacky flight attendant back with open arms, according to an internal memo covered by the Wall Street Journal. Though the story of how Slater bailed hasn’t been corroborated, the airline says his actions were “unacceptable.”

Duh.

Fortunately, there are many opportunities open to him, especially if he can get Hertz to give him O.J. Simpson’s old gig. Slater clearly knows how to make a run through an airport.

JetBlue pilot removed from Boston plane after gun threat incident

by Scott Carmichael on

A JetBlue co-pilot has been removed from his Boston crew lounge when he sent an email to his ex-girlfriend mentioning his plans to harm himself.

The pilot is a member of the TSA Federal Flight Deck Officer program, which allows pilots to carry guns on their plane – the program was developed after the attacks on 9/11. Upon being confronted by authorities, the pilot handed over the gun and was taken to a local hospital for mental evaluation.

Local authorities were quick to point out that the man never threatened passengers and was only considered a threat to himself.

Air France goes prix fixe, not buffet

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Starting in April, Air France is going to make you pay for what you consume. If you consume only one seat, that’s all you’ll have to buy. But, if you require more than one seat, expect to whip out your plastic. For some reason, airline spokesman Nicolas Petteau calls it “a question of security,” but I don’t think so. To me, it seems more like a question of getting what you pay for … and asking you to pay for everything you get.

The new policy includes refunded additional fares for obese passengers taking up two seats on a plane that isn’t full. Air France estimates that these refunds will be granted in 90 percent of big-passenger cases. Nonetheless, the airline cites economic factors as behind the decision (aside from the bizarro comment about security), which is not only believable but appropriate.

Air France, which denied the policy in the French media, ran into some trouble over this issue three years ago. A passenger weighing 353 pounds successfully sued the airline, which had to pay him $11,423 in damages and the cost of the second seat from New Delhi to Paris. (Let’s just hope he had an empty seat next to him.)

Other airlines have similar policies, including Southwest and JetBlue — and I applaud them. Forget about everything except the simple fact that the ticket you buy entitles you to one seat on the flight. If one seat does not meet your needs, buy two seats. After all, if I go to a restaurant and buy one entrée and remain hungry, I have to buy a second one.