47 trapped on 'nightmare' flight to the Twin Cities

[FA Mikey]

Exactly what the airport manager had said.

Rochester airport manager Steven Leqve said "If it were my decision, I would have deplaned the passengers and let them mill about the building," Decisions about what to do with passengers ultimately belong to the airline, he said.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Here come the Feds!
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNew...E57A6DS20090811

U.S. seeks investigation of airline runway delay
Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:13pm EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page [-] Text [+]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. transportation secretary sought an investigation on Tuesday into a seven-hour airport runway delay that outraged proponents of legislation aimed at forcing airlines to improve customer service.

"While we don't yet have all the facts, this incident as reported is very troubling," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement

 

[commuterman]

I have been working in numerous stations (hubs and out stations) where a commuter feeder will divert and land a plane after regular operations hours without informing the carrier or ground service that handles them in that station. It is quite possible that ExpressJet did not inform CO of the diversion, and depending on the size of that station (I am unfamiliar with RST or CO's role there), perhaps nobody from CO actually knew that flight was sitting there. We had a Mesa plane CLT-LGA divert to PIT once at 0200, over 2 hours after regular ops had ceased. Nobody was at the station, and the overnight Ops person didn't even know the AC was there until airport operations informed them over an hour later. At that point they had to try and wake up management to try and get somebody back to the station. By the time the manager got out of bed, got dressed and drove back to PIT airport, the flight had been on a remote taxiway for 3 1/2 hours. Commuter carriers do not always utilize good communication in events like this.

 

[T5towbar]

This has been one really bad year for CO.
First the Denver crash. Then the Colgan disaster. Then the bad fuel hedges and the quarter of a billion dollar (or more) loss, which is leading to layoffs (especially at EWR). Now this disaster on the jungle jet.

What the hell can go wrong next? The year is not over yet...........
You can't make this stuff up.

 

[skyflyr69]

One of these days someone will just open an exit door or window. (Slide or non slide). There is not a jury that would convict.

Totally agree. What the -ELL was the captain thinking? You take those passengers off, call a hotel , local police etc. If I was a pax I'd be SUING the crew and airline NOW !!

When did Captains discretion go out the window? --ssy's. Crewmembers should be ashamed of themselves for not steping up and doing the right thing. But then again this is the regionals. You get what you pay for.

Back in the 70's this would NEVER HAPPEN. Wake up pilots,, Man up and take care of your passengers.
:angry: :angry: :angry:

Time for a "tea party" of crewmembers !!!!

 

[Connie Fan]

Shameful behavior by Express jet. Stuff like this will have congress making stupid laws.

 

[LD3]

Also stated in the article, TSA has gone home and considering the last flight of the night into ROC is around 9 p.m.,

You do know that ROC is in New York....That is something the head of CO Public Relations should know...

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

http://www.elliott.org/blog/transportation...dent-to-mesaba/

Transportation Department shifts blame in tarmac incident to Mesaba

This is an interesting twist.

Remember the Continental/ExpressJet tarmac incident earlier this month? Everyone was quick to blame the airline for holding passengers overnight against their will in Rochester, Minn. Now, a preliminary investigation by the Transportation Department has found that Mesaba, a regional carrier owned by Delta Air Lines, was the likely culprit.

 

[tech2101]

http://www.elliott.org/blog/transportation...dent-to-mesaba/

Transportation Department shifts blame in tarmac incident to Mesaba

This is an interesting twist.

Remember the Continental/ExpressJet tarmac incident earlier this month? Everyone was quick to blame the airline for holding passengers overnight against their will in Rochester, Minn. Now, a preliminary investigation by the Transportation Department has found that Mesaba, a regional carrier owned by Delta Air Lines, was the likely culprit.

Another article.

Instead, blame for the incident, which has revived calls for greater consumer protections for airline passengers, belongs with Mesaba Airlines, whose representative incorrectly told ExpressJet that the passengers couldn't be allowed inside the terminal because Transportation Security Administration personnel had left for the day, LaHood said.

Actually, security regulations allow for deplaning passengers to be kept in a separate "sterile" area until they are ready to board, he said.

"We have determined that the Express Jet crew was not at fault. In fact, the flight crew repeatedly tried to get permission to deplane the passengers at the airport or obtain a bus for them," LaHood said Friday in a statement.

"There was a complete lack of common sense here," the secretary said. "It's no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated."

Sounds like someone at Mesaba is now looking for a new job. It is usually not good when the Secretary of Transportation knows your name.

 

[Dignity]

this whole story never made a lot of sense or it appeared half the story was told initially.

(regarding a flight crew completely disregarding customers in that type of situation)

so I am glad to read the fault did not fall with the flight crew.. as they repeatedly asked to deplane the passengers.

(that makes sense to me) and it appears they tried to do what they could even though it did not happen timely.

 

[tech2101]

Here is a recording of the phone call between dispatch and Mesaba.

You decide.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Here is a recording of the phone call between dispatch and Mesaba.

You decide.

Thanks for the link!