Passengers fume as sleepy BA-crew delays flight

[Pieter C. 5]

Passengers Fume As Sleepy BA Crew Delays Flight

 

April 16, 2007

Passengers on a British Airways flight from New Delhi to London faced a 13 hour delay as the pilot felt he was too sleepy after a noisy night in a New Delhi hotel, newspapers reported on Monday.

 

Angry passengers were offloaded from the plane early Sunday morning after the pilot refused to fly until he caught up with his sleep.

 

"The crew hadn't had enough rest... the entire crew had a disturbed night," Radhika Raikhy, spokeswoman for BA, was quoted in the Hindustan Times as saying, adding the airline's safety rules do not allow its crew to operate in such conditions.

 

The Times of India said the flight and cabin crew complained of not getting enough rest as their hotel was too noisy.

 

The flight, BA 142, finally took off 13 hours later to the fury of passengers who were sent to city hotels to wait out the delay as the crew rested, newspapers reported.

 

"It was very chaotic," said Sunil Thapar, a passenger.

 

"Due to a shortage of rooms, some people, including me, had to share rooms with strangers," he was quoted in The Times of India as saying.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Tony 1]

If the flight is not delayed (i.e. crew went ahead to fly), chances are - we get another accident. For me, I'd be more comfortable for the crew to refuse flying due fatigue, than actually hearing a tired voice over the PA once the aircraft is in air.

[BC Tam 2]

I for one admire the pilot for having the guts to make that decision

[BC Tam 2]

Having said that, I suspect it will be a very interesting investigation, of circumstances leading up to the incident and subsequent challenge for BA's PR dept. From the brief report so far, some things do not quite add up

[Sanjay Thaker 0]

I agree with Tam, somethings dont add up. But if they really had a disturbed night, i admire the pilot for his guts and decisive thinking..

[Keith T 2]

From someone who was on the flight:

 

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.ph...amp;postcount=4

[Tony 1]

Gotta agree with BC. After reading Keith's ref(link), things didn't actually add up correctly... And the Captain gave a lecture on passenger behaviour?

Edited April 17, 2007 by Tony

[Md. Rudy 0]

I guess the crew could have done something earlier once they find out their hotel is nosiy.

 

Remind me of the captain that I flew with before in LAX. The hotel we were staying was undergoing renovation & his room is next to renovation area. He complained to hotel & requested another room since he need to sleep at day time due night flight. But the hotel didn't bother to honor his request & said no other room available.

 

So, he called station manager & said he couldn't operate the night flight since he couldn't rest properly. The station manager called the hotel & suddenly other room was available for him to swtich. The fact that he informed someone in charge about it, they will do everything to ensure the pilot got enough sleep since it is important to be 'fresh' in flight.

[Pieter C. 5]

"But he also told us that unless we boarded in an orderly manner, we wouldn't be going anywhere. We were told not to give the crew a hard time."

 

Apparently, he had been to India plenty of times

[Teoh Z Yao 0]

While it is true the crews could have done something earlier as what the captain did in Md. Rudy's case, we must not overlook instances like this. Noise issue should be handled promptly and seriously.

[BC Tam 2]

Reuters report says pax were "offloaded" whilst richie_ja's version (via Keith's link) suggests pax did not board. So, anyone knows what really happened ?!

 

Also from richie_ja's entry, the pilot really reminds me of my housemaster in boarding school !!

[Seth K 3]

May be they just had a wild night, u know that's what British ppl good at here

Edited April 18, 2007 by Seth K

[zealich 0]

lol...i think the pilot should drink some energetic drinks such as red bull to buff up and continue the flight..but anyway is it ok for them to take these kind of substance as a pilot on duty??

[Tony 1]

lol...i think the pilot should drink some energetic drinks such as red bull to buff up and continue the flight..but anyway is it ok for them to take these kind of substance as a pilot on duty??

Not recommended. Caffeine does not increase one's situational awareness. It keeps the eyes opened, but the brain can remain shut.

[Pieter C. 5]

After some bad BA-news, here's some good BA-news:

 

http://www.oag.com/graphics/07winnersnomineessponsors.pdf

 

Congrats BA !!!