American Crew Gets Detained At Gru
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Kev3188
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I thought it was Kitty Hawk (JFK to Newark by truck, then EWR-FWA-DFW)?
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- Nov 24, 2003
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Garfield1966
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Is that the picture that everyone is complaining about? That could be construed any number of ways. Does anyone know if there was more to his actions than just holding the number with his index finger? That seems kind of inocent to me as far as that picture is concerned.
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This is the extent of the offending conduct according to all the news sources.Garfield1966 said:
LiveInAHotel
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- Nov 5, 2003
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We seem to have 2 different stories on people shipping themselves on cargo planes.FWAAA said:
Here is the story on the kid who shipped himself via UPS:
Kid ships himself to parents house in a box on UPS
Here is the Kitty Hawk story:
Kitty Hawk Stowaway
LiveInAHotel
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You must be the one that shares a cubical with him. Like Father, like Son!mjk said:And you wrote a formal complaint against HIS behavior?
You crack me up!
Garfield1966
Veteran
We do not have cubicles. There are 4 desks in a pod that face each other with low divdiders between them on two sides about 1 foot tall. Only one person per a desk
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Here is a link to a higher resolution version of that photo. For some reason, this site will not allow me to post it as an image.
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rid.../r834766954.jpg
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rid.../r834766954.jpg
Garfield1966
Veteran
I have a question. Was this picture taken after the fact? It looks like he is in front of a restroom not at a customs check point.
You know, after reading both the Brazilian and American accounts of what supposedly happened, I was angry with this captain for acting like a jerk. However, the story is not what the papers would lead us to believe. When I first read the Brazilian account, I knew it could not be correct when it stated the flight attendants jeered and mocked the immigration official. That sounded highly suspect to me. Furthermore, the flight attendants were subsequently released and allowed to deadhead back to Miami, so clearly their behavior was not what the paper reported.
I know several of the crew members on that flight and I called a couple of them to get to the bottom of the story. One of the f/as returned my call and we discussed the incident in depth. My friend, who has been flying to Brazil for years because he loves the people and destination, told me that there have been ongoing problems in Brazil with the treatment of US crewmembers and that the hostility is palpable in immigration. Like my friend, I LOVE Brazil and its people. As a matter of fact, my partner of over 14 years is from Sao Paulo, so this is not easy for me to write because it will probably lead many of you to think less of the Brazilians. Yet, please keep in mind that this tension is the reaction of a few immigration officials who have been fueled by their government which is experiencing a less than ideal rapport with the US at this moment. The average Brazilian, my friends and their families, are able to separate the politics from the people. Also please keep in mind that some of the rudest people I have ever encountered have been our very own US immigration officials (I am NOT saying they are all rude, but I have seen some horrendous behavior on their part), so such deportment is not unique to Brazilian officials. Brief, the issue is fueled by tense relations with the US...certainly nothing unique to Brazil, and a few functionaries with some power who enjoy excercising it.
Having said this, my friend told me that the US crew was indeed led to the front of some bathrooms. There were no chairs or tables for them to place their belongings. As the photos were being taken, my friend said he was shouted at in a very abrasive tone because his fingers were blocking the numbers on the sheet of paper. He then moved his fingers. My friend said he and his crew were very stressed and tired but cooperative in every way.
Nobody can know what was going on in this captain's head when his photo was being taken. It is possible he shot a bird out of contempt and it is possible that he was trying to keep his fingers low and out of the way as he witnessed the berating my friend had endured. Who knows? My friend told me that after this happened, not one word was said to them and they were told to wait, which they did for 2 1/2 hours without any communication. When the purser inquired in Portuguese what was happening, he was summarily told to mind his own business.
Now, my friend is not one to support the actions of a jerk...be it a pilot or a flight attendant...but his feeling is this captain is one of the nicest he has flown with and that it was, in his opinion, a misunderstanding. Again, who knows? Only the captain can know what was going through his own head at the moment in question. I write this letter because I feel the captain has been tried without a hearing and after having spoken to someone who was actually there, my mind is more open to the possibility that it could have been a mistake.
Once again, I hope people do not think all Brazilians are against us or that we are not welcome there. It is true that relations are somewhat strained now, but that does not reflect the way the average Brazilian perceives the average American.
Also, I am not defending this pilot. I do not know him. I am simply writing because after having heard a first hand account, I feel the papers were one-sided and the man has yet to tell his side of the story.
Peace,
Art Tang
MIA
I know several of the crew members on that flight and I called a couple of them to get to the bottom of the story. One of the f/as returned my call and we discussed the incident in depth. My friend, who has been flying to Brazil for years because he loves the people and destination, told me that there have been ongoing problems in Brazil with the treatment of US crewmembers and that the hostility is palpable in immigration. Like my friend, I LOVE Brazil and its people. As a matter of fact, my partner of over 14 years is from Sao Paulo, so this is not easy for me to write because it will probably lead many of you to think less of the Brazilians. Yet, please keep in mind that this tension is the reaction of a few immigration officials who have been fueled by their government which is experiencing a less than ideal rapport with the US at this moment. The average Brazilian, my friends and their families, are able to separate the politics from the people. Also please keep in mind that some of the rudest people I have ever encountered have been our very own US immigration officials (I am NOT saying they are all rude, but I have seen some horrendous behavior on their part), so such deportment is not unique to Brazilian officials. Brief, the issue is fueled by tense relations with the US...certainly nothing unique to Brazil, and a few functionaries with some power who enjoy excercising it.
Having said this, my friend told me that the US crew was indeed led to the front of some bathrooms. There were no chairs or tables for them to place their belongings. As the photos were being taken, my friend said he was shouted at in a very abrasive tone because his fingers were blocking the numbers on the sheet of paper. He then moved his fingers. My friend said he and his crew were very stressed and tired but cooperative in every way.
Nobody can know what was going on in this captain's head when his photo was being taken. It is possible he shot a bird out of contempt and it is possible that he was trying to keep his fingers low and out of the way as he witnessed the berating my friend had endured. Who knows? My friend told me that after this happened, not one word was said to them and they were told to wait, which they did for 2 1/2 hours without any communication. When the purser inquired in Portuguese what was happening, he was summarily told to mind his own business.
Now, my friend is not one to support the actions of a jerk...be it a pilot or a flight attendant...but his feeling is this captain is one of the nicest he has flown with and that it was, in his opinion, a misunderstanding. Again, who knows? Only the captain can know what was going through his own head at the moment in question. I write this letter because I feel the captain has been tried without a hearing and after having spoken to someone who was actually there, my mind is more open to the possibility that it could have been a mistake.
Once again, I hope people do not think all Brazilians are against us or that we are not welcome there. It is true that relations are somewhat strained now, but that does not reflect the way the average Brazilian perceives the average American.
Also, I am not defending this pilot. I do not know him. I am simply writing because after having heard a first hand account, I feel the papers were one-sided and the man has yet to tell his side of the story.
Peace,
Art Tang
MIA
LiveInAHotel
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- Nov 5, 2003
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Garfield1966
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When I think of a cube, I think of something that has 4 sides. Like I said in my description, our desks only have a small "wall" on 2 sides hence the lack of a cube. Since you have never been to crew scheduling and have no idea what we do I would not expect you to understand.
