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All clear after 'mom scare' on Southwest flight

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DieselDragRacer

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2006
Posts
11,056
An apparent simple misunderstanding led to quite a stir on a Friday Southwest flight from Baltimore/Washington to Long Island, according to media reports from the New York metro area.The confusion apparently began when one of the pilots on Southwest Flight 1155 used the PA system to welcome the mother of an air traffic controller who had boarded the flight, according to Newsday of Long Island.

But many of the passengers insist they heard the pilot say there was a "bomb on board," not a "mom on board."

Flight attendants tried to calm concerned passengers, explaining the mix-up and adding that there was nothing to worry about.

Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King tells CBS New York the pilot "did clarify with the passengers that he was wishing the mother on board a happy birthday."

Still, some passengers seemed convinced that they heard what they heard. The Associated Press writes "two passengers were disgruntled enough to complain to security officials."

The Long Island Press says the incident came after an air traffic controller at a nearby Federal Aviation Administration Terminal Radar Approach facility alerted the Southwest pilot that the controller's mother was on his flight.

LONG ISLAND PRESS:
Southwest passengers mistake 'mom' comment for 'bomb'

"Pilots and controllers will sometimes engage in brief greetings," the FAA says in a statement to the Press. "If such conversations go beyond this limit, controllers are counseled to refrain from such unnecessary talk."
Newsday, which also got a response from the FAA, writes:
Such a personal request is not a firing offense but the controller's supervisor may suggest retraining on what's appropriate, the FAA official said.
An unnamed official from the FAA tells the Press that while the agency did review air traffic control communications, it was "not investigating the pilot or the flight crew."
 
Ygtbfsm

Wishing somebody's mom a happy birthday is now cause for "retraining"??
Gtfoh
 
Waiting for Peter King's Congressional investigation.
 
Cue another FAA/TSA directive in 3, 2, 1 . . .
 

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