EY flight from hell, on tarmac for 12 hours

[Hvr]

Hundreds of irate passengers on Etihad Airlines Flight 183 stuck on the plane for nearly 28 hours - 12 hours on the tarmac - are recounting their frustration and formalising complaints and compensation claims.


<snip>

The passengers, who were flying from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco, were kept on board the Etihad plane after fog temporarily closed Abu Dhabi airport and said the airline did not provide food or accurate flight information. Another Etihad flight bound for Dusseldorf left passengers on the tarmac for 13 hours. It then had to make an emergency landing in Vienna after a 73-year-old man died mid-flight.

Etihad 'flight from hell' sees passengers stranded on Abu Dhabi tarmac for 12 hours

Wow, that really does seem like hell. If they can change the crew then the pax should've been let off and rebooked as necessary.

 

[yohy?!]

where's a mainland china tour group when you need 1!

 

[jsoprano]

The passengers on EY23 to Dusseldorf were even worse off: first they were stranded on the tarmac in AUH for 13 hours, and then once they were underway they had a medical emergency and had to divert to VIE. Unfortunately, the affected passenger died. The crew then ran out of hours, everyone was put up in a hotel, and the resumed the flight a few hours later with a new crew and arrived in DUS 33 hrs late:

Etihad Flight Arrives 33 Hours Late Following Series of Disasters | TravelPulse

Imagine connecting onto this flight coming from AU or even NZ. A 55+ hour journey you won't forget.

Edit: Apologies to the OP, didn't realise your post and link also referred to the DUS flight.

 

[Mark3000]

How terrible. Why do we keep hearing stories like this of passengers stuck in a plane on a Tarmac for hours. Surely airlines could come up with protocols to avoid this. After 2 hours you would be upset, after 4 hours I would be furious. I can't imagine after 12 hrs. Why didn't they let them back in the terminal?

 

[dajop]

Why didn't they let them back in the terminal?

For the SFO flight I had wondered if the setup at AUH (where passengers on US bound EY flights pre-clear US immigration at AUH) may have complicated the situation and prevented return to the terminal. But that wouldn't be the case for the DUS bound flight.

 

[Justinf]

Serious question: in a situation like that, would you be able to lay down and go to sleep in J or F?

 

[RooFlyer]

For the SFO flight I had wondered if the setup at AUH (where passengers on US bound EY flights pre-clear US immigration at AUH) may have complicated the situation and prevented return to the terminal. But that wouldn't be the case for the DUS bound flight.

That might have explained the SFO bound flight, but not the Germany bound one.

I was on a flight Calgary to LAX and had pre-cleared USA immigration and we had boarded and the plane went tech. We did de-plane to the gate lounge (the entire pier is sterile US-bound flights, so technically we were still in the USA). however we were told that if the problem wasn't fixed in ?90? mins, we would have to re-enter Canada, turn around and then re-enter the USA and re-board! And that was a problem as ours was the last US flight of the day and the USA Customs people had gone home!

In the end we boarded in 30 mins, but I am aware that US pre-clearance does come with conditions as to time between pre-clearance and departing the country.

Fair dinkum - 12 hours. Hope the airline feels severe financial pain, and 'm not sympathetic to some "airport or immigration regulation". It should have been anticipated and a plan in place.

 

[anat0l]

Fair dinkum - 12 hours. Hope the airline feels severe financial pain, and 'm not sympathetic to some "airport or immigration regulation". It should have been anticipated and a plan in place.

EY is getting a frosty reception, more or less particularly in the US based media, and in FF circles as it is known that the USA has a strict 4 hour tarmac (or rather, from the last opportunity to leave the aircraft) rule.

EY did release a statement of apology of sorts, but it's fairly stock standard sounding and lacking understanding or backbone.

No law suits seem to be out yet and whatever negative PR or flow on effects appears to have no material impact.

 

[n7of9]

this sounds like my biggest nightmare! if I'm ever in this situation and have a total meltdown, complete with tears and inconsolable fits, would i get in trouble from the airline to boot, you think?

 

[RooFlyer]

In previous similar situations, simple 'chest pains' were sufficient for a pax to be allowed to de-plane.

(oops!! I hope that doesn't get me bailed up before the NSW ICAC :shock: )

 

[Denali]

Serious question: in a situation like that, would you be able to lay down and go to sleep in J or F?

At some point, I would have to. Take a phenergan and try to zone out because otherwise, eventually I would start yelling at someone and that's not going to help anyone.

 

[get me outta here]

If I took a Phenergan, I'd definitely start yelling at probably everyone as I'm seemingly badly affected by it and being constrained like that would be hell.

So, if an otherwise normal person suddenly starts acting up, ask them if they just took it.

At some point, I would have to. Take a phenergan and try to zone out because otherwise, eventually I would start yelling at someone and that's not going to help anyone.

 

[RooFlyer]

Sorry, can I slip a bit O/T? Phenergan - is that prescription or non? Is it a 'relaxant' like temazipan, or something stronger. My sleep is terrible on planes and I'm looking to move up from temazipan (GP willing)

 

[Denali]

Sorry, can I slip a bit O/T? Phenergan - is that prescription or non? Is it a 'relaxant' like temazipan, or something stronger. My sleep is terrible on planes and I'm looking to move up from temazipan (GP willing)

Technically its a antihistamine or anti allergy med but one of the side effects is sedation (as stated on the box). 1 will knock a co worker out for about 14hrs, 2 knocks me out for about 5hrs but I wake up alert/not drowsy. I bought it over the counter but had to give ID when purchasing it.

Please try at home first.

 

[DontGetMeStarted]

This would be my nightmare too, I suffer a bit from claustrophobia, so I wonder what would happen in that case. When travelling I keep a couple of valium or similar in my purse "just in case" but I do wonder what they would do with someone like me if the panic sets in.

 

[Denali]

This would be my nightmare too, I suffer a bit from claustrophobia, so I wonder what would happen in that case. When travelling I keep a couple of valium or similar in my purse "just in case" but I do wonder what they would do with someone like me if the panic sets in.

My issue would be the lack of air movement. Im ok in a room that 40deg or 10degs but I need to feel air movement. This is what would tip me from trying to be OK with the situation to "OMG, can we please just open the doors before I lose it" moment. Happened in a hotel room about a 3 weeks ago.

Didn't we have a plane stuck on a ACT tarmac a few weeks ago for quite a few hours? At least they got to walk on the tarmac at some point. I would have grabbed my blanket and lay under the plane/in the shade.

 

[anat0l]

The official statement of response from Etihad, whilst already printed elsewhere, can be found in the following article:

Etihad passengers 'stranded without food for 12 hours on plane' in 28-hour journey from Abu Dhabi - News & Advice - Travel - The Independent

It appears to show a conflict of stories as to how well provisioned the passengers were on the ground whilst being delayed for so long, i.e. did they or did they not get food and drink whilst sitting on the ground, how often did this happen and to what degree did EY keep its passengers informed of the reasons for delay.

It doesn't mention anything about why pax couldn't get off or why disembarkation / abandonment of flight was not considered, or discarded as an option.

 

[n7of9]

Sorry, can I slip a bit O/T? Phenergan - is that prescription or non? Is it a 'relaxant' like temazipan, or something stronger. My sleep is terrible on planes and I'm looking to move up from temazipan (GP willing)

Temazepam is the ingredient in Valium. How much do you take? A 'normal' dose is 2mg, though people are known to take 10 or 15mg at the one time - i am NOT suggesting you do this, but my point is if you take 2mg, upping that to 4mg tablets isn't going to do anything bad to you

Different drugs have different reactions for different people. I have a friend who gets really violent on valium, and I myself have horrible nightmares on proper sleeping pills so prefer valium. Try not to go down the road of taking something 'stronger', it can be a slippery slope

 

[Mark3000]

Temazepam is the same benzodiazepine class as Valium but Valium is Diazepam which lasts a fair bit longer than temazepam

 

[get me outta here]

My drug of choice is Zolpidem (Stilnox). It's the one that makes some people try to fly off the harbour bridge, but I find it great say half a tab = 3 - 4 hours sleep. Wake up refreshed, take a walk and loo stop and drink water and then take the other half. Very useful.