Comair flight 5637, irate pax, watch the video

[HarryParatestes]

I would field dress that guy and have my F/O film it. Then send him to the taxidermist and have him stuffed and hang him in my basement.

It puts the lotion in the basket.

 

[dickburns]

I would have dropped that guy so fast then called security saying he tried to storm the flight deck. But what do I know, I fly freight and never have to deal with that bs. People complain so bad when you guys get a ground delay because of storms and aren't flying, then they complain and whine because you aren't safe enough, they just want to complain for the sake of complaining. If they need to get there that bad then why don't they go charter a plane, theyll take them right through the storms, then you'll see how much whining the passengers do next time there is a ground delay.

 

[PA44Jockey]

That guys was owns a business that sells that camera and is also a journalist. Even more reason to field dress him. It's sad, but the flight crew and that journalist are both correct. People sitting on airplanes w/o an APU in the middle of summertime is rediculous. However, congress, airline management and the FAA choose to do nothing about it. The long sits for departure times are just getting larger by the day. Someone is going to have to croak on an aircraft in extreme heat before anything is done about it. I myself would have made the decision that passengers wouldn't be sitting on my airplane in conditions like that. Yes it's JFK, but if a company can't find equipment that works then that flight shouldn't be operating.

 

[172driver]

Am I the only one who thinks the passenger had a valid argument? Sitting in a CRJ with a broken apu on a hot and humid night for more than 30 minutes or so is unacceptable. Dispatching said airplane and accepting said airplane by the crew in those conditions is also unacceptable. The delay may have been longer than expected but it could not have been unexpected -- it was JFK in the evening.

Granted, the guy was an idiot and handled it inappropriately, but I probably would have popped the door and walked right off. Arrest me if you must, but I'm not sitting in a 100+ degree airplane with 53 other people for 4 hours, period. The airlines and their crews need to change these practices before people decide to just stay home.

 

[skyslug]

The passenger is the owner of a company that makes small video recording devices. His ONLY reason for coming to the flight deck was to get his story on the news thus giving his company publicity (did you notice his company name everywhere on the news???? yep, it was there!!!). I will stand by this statement; how else did it make it to the news?!

The passengers were informed many times about the inop APU and at JFK one can be told they will push any moment now and then 20 minutes later be told the same thing and on and one (JFK is one frustratingly annoying place when bad weather arrives). Couple that with bad weather and the ramp closing (perhaps multiple times, I don't know) then what do you really tell the passengers???? I am positive the crew told the passengers what they were being told!

That being said, I have no idea what the temp was or if it was night or day (night by the looks of the video). It's better to run the flight with an inop APU in most cases then to cancel the flight an inconvenience and rebook many many passengers.

Don't crucify the crew until you know what really happened but you can certainly learn from it and formulate what you would do if that situation were to ever arrive on your flight deck!

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Seems to me the passenger was playing to the camera. He intentionally tried to rile up the flight crew so that he could document it on his crappy little product.

It does appear the captain is a little docile but he handled it okay. He never got angry or berated the passenger, which ultimately is how you need to represent your company. The guy wanted him to say something he could run to the news with.

Just a cheap thrill this moron got from making the captain look defensive.

 

[captainv]

Just imagine the press this would've gotten if the captain told the passenger to go @$#* himself.

By the way, the crew did have external a/c when boarding. At some point, the rampers disconnected it and took it away.

 

[CherryBomb]

Too bad the guy with the camera didnt walk into a pointy static wick at eye level... It would be a waste of a good static wick...

 

[PeanuckleCRJ]

How many bets on that CA ends up with a carpet dance? We can't speak on camera....

 

[DX Rick]

How long have we all been doing this? Haven't we learned yet, that the passengers and media know everything there to know and more about commercial aviation?
How many of them still tell you, that electronic devices and cell phones don't even interfere with our avionics?

The Captain should have distracted this clown, while the FO stuck the crash axe in his chest. Seriously. Why was a passenger trying to gain access to the cockpit with what looked like a miniature gun?

In the end, this camera guy will look like a hero, thanks to out media. And PCL_128 will always be a GIA graduate.

 

[mamba20]

I'm not going to play Monday morning QB and say what I think the crew SHOULD have done. I'm going to say what I would have done.

First off, what was this guy doing with access to the flight deck in the first place? That should have never taken place even if the engines were shut off on the ground. Who's to say he's not some psycopath like the guy on FEDEX a few years back?

Second, I would have calmy asked him to return to his seat and then retured to the gate and had him arrested for interfering with with a flight crew (a federal offense).

I think all of us should write letters and or emails to this guys company and explain to him that not only were his actions completely inappropriate, but also against the law.

 

[172driver]

They were at the gate and never left it. The flight deck door is closed when the main cabin door is closed which did not appear to be the case in the video.

What I would have done is:

1. Evaluate the cabin temp myself or by asking the FA. If it was truly uncomfortable, which I suspect it was, then...

2. Call the company and tell them the cabin is unacceptably hot, pax are suffering, come get them off. Let them know I will take further action if they don't cooperate.

3. Either declare an emergency and request medical assistance or resolve the situation on my own by deplaning the pax and leading them inside myself.

The CA stating that he has no power to do anything to fix the problem is obviously very weak. It is his airplane and he is responsible for the health, safety, and comfort of his pax. You have to do the right thing and deal with the consequences later.

Last summer I deadheaded from JFK-BOS on Comair on a similar night. We taxied for over five hrs because of the weather. It was hot, cramped, and miserable even with the APU operating, but at least it was safe. No APU in the CRJ equals no air at all. Not a safe condition with that many bodies on board.

If you folks don't step in and stop accepting situations like this, I assure you the government will by passing some kind of bill of rights. This will not be good for the airlines or your careers.

 

[Diesel]

And you wonder why the flying public absolutely hates flying on the airlines?

Lets ignore the guy with the camera for a second and look at the basics of no apu with a crowded plane and 4 hours swealtering. They actually had a pax puking because of the heat. You don't need to be a doctor to know that something is wrong with him.

Comments like who cares? Thats what you get for 100 dollar tickets. The customer service has been taken out of the 121 world. You have to remember that those in the back are the ones that enable there to be jobs in aviation. Its your choice whether to take that job or not.

Calling the cops on the guy is just a way not to deal with the real problem. The situation that the pax have been put into with no apu, no ac, and stuck on the ground for 4 hours.

What do you really expect?

 

[sqwkvfr]

This Captain did exactly what he should have....this passenger had no intention but to initiate an arguement, and the Captain handled it the only way he could have.

The only "weak" thing here is the lame-brains that would have "tough-guyed" themselves out of a job and onto the list of the top-ten idiots of the year after the press had a FIELD DAY with them.

 

[acaTerry]

Oh how I miss the old days....

 

[WalterSobchak]

This guy, David Ollila, is apparently the president of a "POV/Hidden Camera" company and is using this video as a sales tool on his website.

http://vio-pov.com/flight.php

Seems to me that he took a hot-button issue and used it to get a little free advertising for his product...shrewd marketing, really.

So, who wants to be the first to kick this guy off your aircraft (now that he's probably "no longer flying Delta")?

 

[skiandsurf]

After watching the video, I felt that the captain did a good job keeping his cool. I think he should have either gotten out of his seat, to show some authority.

But after reading that a kid had thrown up, I can see why this passenger was getting pissed.

Someone needs to stand up and be a Captain, not a pilot. MAKE something happen. Everyone is too afraid of getting in trouble, so they dont make any decisions on their own. Grow a pair.

 

[SKYW Pilot]

Flying without an APU or ground air during the frickin' summer time is unacceptable. TURN THE AIRPLANE DOWN!!! It's a safety risk. In this situation the Captain sure as heck could have done something. There's no excuse to keep passengers on an aircraft with no A/C for that long. If there was no one to escort these people inside, then declare an emergency. As a PIC, it's your responsiblity for the health and safety of your crew and passengers. That responsibility doesn't end on the ground with the engines shut down.

On another note, this idiot with the camera was just using the situation to sell his camera. Nothing more...

 

[HarryParatestes]

Delta's response

“Our focus is always the comfort and safety of our customers and we will continue to work to mitigate ongoing air traffic control-related congestion and delays,” said Joe Kolshak. EVP. Operations

I'm calling 1-800-BULL $H1T. Delta doesn't give a "Fat Baby's ass" about comfort. It is bottom dollar. Run cheap, pay cheaper, and give nothing away.

 

[DrewBlows]

Flying without an APU or ground air during the frickin' summer time is unacceptable. TURN THE AIRPLANE DOWN!!! It's a safety risk.

At Comair it would also be a career risk to refuse an airplane for what the company calls a "passenger comfort" (not safety) issue. The Captain was right, he has pretty much zero power when it comes to canceling a flight. I guess at other airlines the company gives the Captains more autonomy. Must be nice.