Amusing or Interesting Reasons for a Delayed Flight Departure

[TiredOldFlyer]

Checking in at Aspen with UA for a return to LAX was told that your ticket was cancelled as you did not take the first leg (EG LAX to ASP) finally admitted "we made a mistake".
Was told that they could take us in two days ; a 48 hour delay. Amusing - NO, Interesting - NO, bewildering - YES !

 

[TomVexille]

Checking in at Aspen with UA for a return to LAX was told that your ticket was cancelled as you did not take the first leg (EG LAX to ASP) finally admitted "we made a mistake".
Was told that they could take us in two days ; a 48 hour delay. Amusing - NO, Interesting - NO, bewildering - YES !

I assume you did actually fly the first leg?

 

[dmitri]

I was on an air lingus flight in January that was delayed for 20 minutes because they forgot to load the baggage, that's what the hostess said anyway.

 

[Glider_]

VA domestic flight many years ago, everyone boards and as we all settle down we can feel some movement in the plane towards the front while still parked. What started as a jiggle turned into some random shaking, then the pilot makes an announcement that the engineers had been changing a front tyre during boarding to save time but now that everyone is on board they can't get the jack out! He then asked everyone in the front dozen rows to please hop off the plane and just wait on the bridge for a minute to lighten the nose.

Everyone had a bit of a giggle and did what he asked, and we were on our way again.

 

[Clivem]

Ha, Similar event ...........


Sept 21 last year ... Virgin America flight # VX399 07:15 depart JFK to LAX.

The gate was one of the twin aero bridge - two (2) plane types at JFK.

First flight out from that gate in the morning - flight and cabin crew boarded ....... Short time after PAX boarded on time, we where in row two, 'F' section (well the Virgin America version of 'F') so we had a good view as things unfolded. Plane was just about fully loaded, crew was well into the pre flight galley prep/check.......... everybody was well into getting settled in for a Saturday morning cross country hop ........................ Then Oppppssss

Wrong plane ! .......... everybody had to get off ....... all crammed on the aero bridge while crew swapped over to other plane - the usually wally's started jumping up and down ..."are our bags on the right plane yada yada" ....... Result 45 min late in departing but arrived just a few minutes late into LAX.

Classic ............. never happen to us before but now I wonder if it does occur more than you think ?

 

[JohnK]

I thought I would have heard all the excuses for delays by now.

I guess the most amusing for me was Tiger flight last year where the aerobridge was stuck after boarding and they could not push it back clear from aircraft so aircraft can push back. Overall delay of about 2 hours which I thought was handled well by Tiger crew and ground staff.

 

[TiredOldFlyer]

I assume you did actually fly the first leg?

Sorry missed this - Yes we did !

 

[TomVexille]

Sorry missed this - Yes we did !

Major fail in their case then.

 

[burnt]

Not quite in the same "theme" but an amusing reason I was given in Hobart about 25 years ago, why I could not board, when I could still see the aircraft outside was "they have already pressurised the aircraft". I could hardly contain myself (but I still did not get boarded)

 

[jastel]

On board QF plane coming back from NZ a few years back when BANG, one of the workers trucks hit the plane. Not too hard but noticeable, the hatch wouldn't close so we all got offloaded.
We all got various other flights back, I got put on a later Emirates flight back to Syd, but missed my connection home, so overnighted in Syd at Qantas expense.

 

[Sprucegoose]

There was a cow on the runway in Denpasar so we landed and waited for it to walk off. We had to land at Surabaya.

 

[drron]

Of course there was the time in Botswana at the chief's airstrip.Had dropped of a couple for their flight out towards the end of the morning drive.we waited on the edge of the airstrip and I helped out our guide getting rid of the wart hogs from the strip.I am a reasonably accurate stone thrower.

 

[Simo]

There was a cow on the runway in Denpasar so we landed and waited for it to walk off. We had to land at Surabaya.

Regional Airports!!!!

 

[TomVexille]

Regional Airports!!!!

No, just Indonesia

 

[anat0l]

Maybe not so typical or not so funny... but (and this has been told before) I was flying ZL OAG-SYD with my supervisor and the rest of our research trip team (4 of us in total). Of course, ZL use those tiny Saab planes (noisy buggers they are, and no ear plugs supplied). It was a full flight and the check-in agent ensured that all of us complied with the strict carry-on and checked baggage protocols. Anyone who had excess checked bags had to have them tagged as potentially delayed baggage, to be sent on the next flight (next morning) and couriered from there. Those with connections - like us - were partly covered from this.

Aircraft arrives slightly late; we're pushing an on-time departure. All of the sudden, we get an announcement - with the current loading of pax and bags, the plane will be overloaded. The agent calls upon people to voluntarily have their bags delivered late. We need to get rid of between 70 - 100 kg. We all look at each other and don't budge, as we need to connect to BNE and unlikely to let it go, especially with interline tags.

After about two or three rounds of calling volunteers, we eventually have enough to satisfy the weight constraints. As we were boarding, my supervisor suggested a much quicker way of achieving the weight goal: everyone enter a race to do a lap around the terminal; the last person to finish is offloaded with their bags. Easily 70 - 100 kg, problem solved. Needless to say, if he had suggested that, I might have been the one spending an extra night in Orange!

 

[Rareified Air]

This is a landing rather than departing story but I once landed in a BA 747 at LHR from SIN just after t5 opened. Landed a bit earlier than scheduled and for some reason told to park at T4 in the parking area (i.e not unload via a ramp) rather than expected at T5.

There was no ground crew ready and due to the move of terminals no air stairs ready! Ground crew arrives but with no stairs, so some guy drives to t5 to get one, of course he brings back the wrong size ones that won't reach the door and has to go back to T5. It took an hour to deplane which of course was going down a treat with a full flight.

 

[OBie]

Amusing if you are interested in percentages: after arriving from Oz, travelling DFW-JAX twice in the last 6 months on AA's last flight out [AA2296], with 1845 scheduled departure, I've achieved 100% success in having delayed departures, with 'amusing', if you believe them, excuses:

29Sep13 ~ boarding delayed due non-arrival of operating crew; pre-flights checked, all good, except minor brake line leak, for which Maint have been summoned; half-an hour later decision is made that "pax must disembark, whilst comprehensive checks are carried out, so come back to gate in an hour please". An hour later all ready to re-board, and do so, happy; Biggles duly arrives and re-starts pre-take-off checks, looks at his watch, and laughingly advises pax that "notwithstanding telling 'em so, we're now out of crew duty time, but we think we have another Biggles available, so all off, thanks". Amusement factor is quickly dissipating ... finally departed 2-and-half-hours later than scheduled.

30Mar14 ~ airframe sitting at departure gate, Bewdy! But, boarding delayed due non-arrival of cabin crew, expected in 45" from inbound flight; ah, no operating crew, who arrived about 30" later. All aboard: then during push-back/safety demonstration "a senior airline person" came forward and spoke to the operating crew re some perceived problem, and Biggles announced that they'd "have to check a minor electrical problem", which became a "need to return to the gate for Maint, but something-else had already been moved onto the gate we'd vacated so we needed to wait for another"; cue first round of G&Ts being served in the plush end! We'd moved off Gate D-something, and of course when the new gate was ready it was A-something, necessitating a long transit taxi around half of central Texas; 2nd G&T and hot nuts, why, thank you! Parked at new Gate, and Maint arrived, and Maint looked, and Maint advised that it'd be a few minutes, then that it was an airframe change required, so everybody off. The gate agent was confident that there'd be an airframe available, in 30"; then 45"; and there was, in 60" plus time to transfer bags etc from broken to unbroken airframe. Departed 4-and-a-half hours late. The minor electrical turned out to be a 50% DC power lack!

The good thing: sitting in the soft seats and being G&T'd, and almost nil traffic on the road from JAX international to NoKs at such a late hour!