" well if you're going to take that attitude .......... "
So my daughter and her boyfriend are on a Jet Air plane to Thailand on Saturday night, 30 minutes into the flight, there is a loud noise, the cabin
starts to depressurise and get cold, oxygen masks drop down, they have to drop altitude quickly and come back to Heathrow. Oh yes, and her oxygen mask
didn't work..... There were people on the plane phoning and texting family and friends as they thought it was the end. She was a little shaken up
to say the least.
The plane is knackered, so they have to stay in the local Premier Inn, no bags, no shops nearby, and no information to speak of. They finally get them
on another plane last night.
So apart from claiming on their insurance for the usual delay, no bags etc etc, I would presume an incident like this would be serious enough to try
to get some compensation out of the airline? Anybody had a similar experience?
A sudden or slow decompression is not unheard of. Scary but not life threatening. Depending on what type of Oxygen system was fitted, the oxygen will
only activate when the mask is positively pulled "DOWN". Many people talk or read throughout the safety demo and miss out on the life saving
info. The fact that your daughter didn't pass out means the oxygen probably wasn't needed.
As for compensation, I doubt any would be due. Hope they are both okay. Sounds like large amounts of alcohol might've been needed!
Compensation for what? They can claim for any losses they have incurred, including any lost days of the holiday, lost luggage, extra hotels, subsistence etc but what else do you think they can claim for?
Happened to me on an internal flight in the States in the mid 90's, best laxative known to man I'm sure, your mind is in turmoil for days re
playing what could have happened, illogical but you do following such intense situations.
Good to hear they are OK and have gone off on holiday, best just put it out of their minds as soon as they can chalk it up to a life experience.
They'll be compensated for the holiday disruption, but surely that's it. Why would they need compensation for a wee fright!?
To be honest, while I'm sure it wasn't much fun and I hope it never happens to me, I find this thread a little annoying at it appears to be
of the tune of "They had a fright but are pretty much fine, its probably going to be sorted anyway, but how can we get the most out of the
airline possible" rather than "They have been through hell, lost and lot and been left out of pocket for someone elses error, and been told
there can have non of it back".
If for some reason as a paying customer you have lost a lot through someone elses error I can see how it could be reasonable to expect or seek some
sort of compensation, but if something slightly random happens largely out of the providers control I don't see why you should expect or seek
payment. Assuming they are planning to travel again, with the same airline or otherwise, where in the long term to they/you expect the money to come
from! Car insurance gone up recently?
I'm not having a personal go, and i have written that in a bit of a hurry, but that's the brief window into my thoughts on these types of
thread.
Daniel
not a nice situation at, and glad they're ok, but thats just it, they're ok, no injury, no personal loss (assuming that the hole in the
fuselage didn't mean their bags fell out) no loss of life, personally i think means theres no compensation due. except for loss of days holiday,
which should be covered by travel insurance, and if the airline want to give a holiday voucher for the inconveniece, thats up to them, but i
don't think theres any grounds for compensation tbh. not a fan of compensation claims. the compensation culture we're getting into is
responsible for driving prices on everything up
i assume the airline covered the premier inn costs, not returning baggage isn't great, but i guess theres a lot of work to do like investigation
and stuff, that they can't unload the plane for til they've got photos, evidence of stuff, checked there was no bomb, all that sort of
thing.
can't find any info on this flight online? i usually comes up on the news when this kind of thing happens. that quantas flight that dropped 100ft
or something the other month, my sister was on that, and that was all over the news that day
[Edited on 2/4/12 by blakep82]
Glad to hear they're ok.
Just out of interest, I went on an alarm management course a while ago and cabin depressurisation was one of the topics covered. Did you know you only
get 3 minutes oxygen throught the mask? The reasoning being that the correct response is a fast dive to below the level where you dont officially need
it. The crew however get 30 minutes, so top tip of the day - if you are at 30,000 ft and the plane hasn't dived after 2.9 minutes, mug one of the
stewards/stewaresses!
Regards
Hugh
I agree with not liking the 'compensation culture', I'm not talking about trying to sue for psychological damage or anything - but they
have lost a day of their 'dream holiday' to Thailand which they have been saving for for months, and had the life scared out of them.
The airline were completely crap afterwards organising anything for them, keeping them informed - they were lucky to get on the flight the next night.
The airline failed to tell them the news, they heard it from the guy at the front desk of the Premier Inn. They had no luggage, and no access to buy
toiletries or spare underwear etc.
The kind of compensation I'm talking about would be a free flight or something like that, I think if I was on the plane and had been scared half
to death that would be an unreasonable request. Same thing happened to a friend on a Quantas flight and they got a round the world ticket.
" Sorry a bit fell off our airplane and you had the poo scared out of you. also sorry the oxygen masks didn't work. Here's an open
ticket - when would you like to fly with us again ? "
" well if you're going to take that attitude .......... "
quote:
Originally posted by hughpinder
Glad to hear they're ok.
Just out of interest, I went on an alarm management course a while ago and cabin depressurisation was one of the topics covered. Did you know you only get 3 minutes oxygen throught the mask? The reasoning being that the correct response is a fast dive to below the level where you dont officially need it. The crew however get 30 minutes, so top tip of the day - if you are at 30,000 ft and the plane hasn't dived after 2.9 minutes, mug one of the stewards/stewaresses!
Regards
Hugh
Just be glad shes alive and well.A mate of mine lost his son,no amount of money will change that or the way he feels every day.
As for compo....come on
^^^^^^ As above, that would be my view
Hmmm...
Head injury due to mask hitting you on the head? Burn injury because the take-off coffee was too hot? Trauma? Whiplash injury due to aircraft's
rapid descent.
You should have at least 3 fully qualified 'trauma managers' to hand, perhaps 4 - grounds to get compensation if you don't have all
four?
What else? - well, surely your relatives on the ground suffered trauma too? Get them to claim? Dunno.
Did your mask fail due to negligence by any party, was the mask non-operation due in any way to prejustice about your height, weight, religion, sexual
orientation, or other things too politically sensitive to mention?
Which airline ? won't be Quantas or BA most likely a south east Asia carrier --- my first guess would be Garuda .
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Which airline ? won't be Quantas or BA most likely a south east Asia carrier --- my first guess would be Garuda .
Well I'm quite surprise at some peoples views on here, maybe it's the old British 'Don't Complain' attitude.
I once spent 5 hours stuck under the channel in the tunnel on a train. We got 3 first class return trips out of them for that. Don't ask
don't get!!
Chemical oxy generators have a firing pin that requires a positive pull to fire the generator, its amazing how many people don't know it yet its
explained everytime during the safety demo.
I'm an aircraft engineer by trade yet I still listen to the demo's on every flight as there are that many different aircraft types and exit
configurations, it really pi$$es me off when you see people completely ignoring them, the info could save your life.
The depressurisation could have been caused by a hundred things so why should the airline pay compo? If it was a faulty valve supplied by the
manufacturer shouldn't you be asking Boeing or Airbus for some compo? Come on, everyones ok, the hotel was covered, Airlines are struggling
enough as it is without everyone becoming American and sueing everyone.
I doubt it was Garuda, Ive worked/flown with them several times and their customer service was first rate
Perhaps you should send the pilot a few quid for keeping your daughter safe in an emergency situation 
I'd just be happy she was healthy and
carry on living!
quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
Well I'm quite surprise at some peoples views on here, maybe it's the old British 'Don't Complain' attitude.
quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
Chemical oxy generators have a firing pin that requires a positive pull to fire the generator, its amazing how many people don't know it yet its explained everytime during the safety demo.
I'm an aircraft engineer by trade yet I still listen to the demo's on every flight as there are that many different aircraft types and exit configurations, it really pi$$es me off when you see people completely ignoring them, the info could save your life.
quote:
Originally posted by T66
quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903
Chemical oxy generators have a firing pin that requires a positive pull to fire the generator, its amazing how many people don't know it yet its explained everytime during the safety demo.
I'm an aircraft engineer by trade yet I still listen to the demo's on every flight as there are that many different aircraft types and exit configurations, it really pi$$es me off when you see people completely ignoring them, the info could save your life.
Excellent point !
I always have a good look round while shuffling toward my seat on an aircraft, knowing where everything is, when the thing fills with smoke and the lighting goes off will save your life.
You cannot rely on anyone around you to help when it all goes wrong.
that's because they are merely doing what the airline wants: get in tube get hammered get off at other end.itsperfectly safe
quote:
Originally posted by RK
that's because they are merely doing what the airline wants: get in tube get hammered get off at other end.itsperfectly safe
As someone who spent about 10 years flying for a living, I can tell you that it is in fact true. They don't like misbehaviour, and shouldn't, for safety reasons. But I am speaking from my own experiences as a pilot.
My father always tells me it's best to sleep on the plane because if anything happens he reckons you've got more chance of surviving and if
you don't your asleep.
He's had a couple of experiences like the one described and he said the worst one was a transfer at LAX on his way back from New Zealand. Shortly
after takeoff an engine set of fire and the plane had to circle over the pacific (he says something to do with dropping fuel) and land back in LA.
They had to spend the night in Down town LA where they got a fancy hotel where he had to convince them to swap his room for a much cheaper room (It
was all being paid for by the airline) because the one they had was high up with a glass wall and my Mother can't deal with that, they even had
to find someone to take them down to the new room in a frieght elevator because the regular ones were outside. It's much worse this way around
because you can't leave the Hotel because of the customs conditions they were under.
As far as I'm aware they got the equivalent to a days wages but I'm not sure from were and the Hotel and dinner in LA paid for.
These kind of incidents where noone is hurt must be relativly common I'd guess, as I doubt many would be in the press.
quote:
I agree with not liking the 'compensation culture',
I came back from Skiing a couple of years back from a tiny airport in the alps somewhere. There were a lot of pirate little Cessna type planes there
and one bloke decided to give is aircraft a tidy up. Sadly he left his tool box on the wing and he decided to take his place for a spin.
As he accelerated down the runway all the stuff on his wing fell off. As we were taxi'ing to the runway I saw a dust buster on the tarmac. The
plane accelerated down the runway and one of the engines sucked up a metal tool box or something. Almightly bangs and crashes from the port engine.
He plane taxi'd back to the airport but it seemed as if the plane couldn't turn in one direction.
After a delay they flew us out a new plane.
You know what they say "where there's a blame there's a claim" Sue their ar5es Jasper, it won't even cost you anything, no
win no fee....sorted.
The biggest issue with passenger aircraft 'in flight' incidents these days is the lack of distance between passenger seats and the increase in average passenger height....it's now almost impossible when adopting the 'crash' position to kiss your ass goodbye because your head hits the seat in front before you are even halfway down.....