Passengers File Criminal Charges Against Airline Captain...

[FN FAL]

German Passengers File Charges Against Airline For "False Imprisonment"

January 3, 2006

Yvonne Lee - All Headline News Staff Reporter

Berlin, Germany (AHN) - Six German airline passengers filed charges against the pilot of a British Airways flight for "false imprisonment."
They said they were held against their will after being stuck on the runway for seven hours before taking off, a federal police spokesman said.

Snow and ice delayed the plane's scheduled 7 a.m. takeoff from Berlin's Tegel airport on Thursday. A passenger named Ingo Q. called the police emergency hotline at 11:30 a.m to say he was being "held hostage," reports Bild newspaper.

When police boarded the plane, Ingo Q. ran towards then and yelled "I want to get out of here." But only three passengers were allowed to disembark.
Ingo Q. told police again sometime after noon that he wanted to get off the plane. He and his wife, along with another couple, were finally allowed to get off the plane at 12:48 p.m., reports Reuters.

The plane eventually took off seven hours later at 2:36 p.m., reports Bild.

 

[Sticky]

tick..tock...tick..tock...

The end is near folks.

 

[gkrangers]

Hes the one who should be in jail...

 

[FN FAL]

tick..tock...tick..tock...

The end is near folks.

Just think about it...it might have been a British Airways pilot this time, but it could have just as easily been one of our US legacy carrier pilots.

Heck, you try a stunt like running towards cops in a US airliner, you'll get turned into a No. 2 pencil.

 

[gkrangers]

"When police boarded the plane, Ingo Q. ran towards then and yelled "I want to get out of here." "

Ya know..if that happened here...they woulda shot the guy...

 

[FN FAL]

"When police boarded the plane, Ingo Q. ran towards then and yelled "I want to get out of here." "

Ya know..if that happened here...they woulda shot the guy...

It's happened before.

 

[GravityHater]

Seven hours?

 

[EagleRJ]

....you'll get turned into a No. 2 pencil.

I don't get it....

 

[Flying Illini]

I don't get it....

Full of lead...you know, from the bullets.

 

[minitour]

"When police boarded the plane, Ingo Q. ran towards then and yelled "I want to get out of here." "

Ya know..if that happened here...they woulda shot the guy...

I was thinking, "and that didn't raise any red flags...?"

-mini

 

[Corona]

He shoulda yelled "Allahu Akbar!" at the top of his lungs. That probably woulda done the trick.

C

 

[Gorilla]

What a goof, but this raises an interesting issue. Remember the Northwest episode a few years ago in Detroit? Was it 12 hours on the ground in a snowstorm? At some point, a "reasonable" delay becomes unreasonable. Obviously, a Captain cannot hold an airplane full of people on the ground indefinitely. So where do you draw the line? 7 hours? 12?

Maybe it's just me, but if I'm sitting there for 7 or 10 hours, and every reasonable request for a gate has been denied, I'd issue the company an ultimatum. Either get me a gate, or airstairs plus a bus or two, or I'm going to declare an emergency, probably a medical, and get those people off the airplane.

 

[EagleRJ]

Full of lead...you know, from the bullets.

Ah, I see. .....but aren't pencils full of graphite?

A better metaphor would have been "you'll get turned into a deadblow hammer", or "you'll get turned into a 16th-century stained glass window".







Kidding. Relax.

 

[FN FAL]

Ah, I see. .....but aren't pencils full of graphite?

A better metaphor would have been "you'll get turned into a deadblow hammer", or "you'll get turned into a 16th-century stained glass window

...or a sinker used in fishing.

 

[CrewDawg]

What a goof, but this raises an interesting issue. Remember the Northwest episode a few years ago in Detroit? Was it 12 hours on the ground in a snowstorm? At some point, a "reasonable" delay becomes unreasonable. Obviously, a Captain cannot hold an airplane full of people on the ground indefinitely. So where do you draw the line? 7 hours? 12?

Maybe it's just me, but if I'm sitting there for 7 or 10 hours, and every reasonable request for a gate has been denied, I'd issue the company an ultimatum. Either get me a gate, or airstairs plus a bus or two, or I'm going to declare an emergency, probably a medical, and get those people off the airplane.

I was on a flight coming back from the northeast a while back, when we got held on the ground by a T-storm. We only sat there for about 45 min. before the pilot to us back to the gate to allow a few people to get off the place. He made and annoucement about the wait and instructed any of us to let a flight attendant know if we wished to get off the plane.

Actually worked out good for me, I was on military orders and this delay gave me one more day of pay.