Just another day in the life of a FA

[Guest]

OFFENSIVE AND INSULTING' 

British Airways crew called ‘fat and too old’ by passengers on customer feedback forms

Cabin crews blast bosses for letting 'passengers with grudges' send offensive remarks to them

EXCLUSIVE

By Stephen Moyes

4th December 2017, 7:17 pm

Updated: 4th December 2017, 7:17 pm

BRITISH Airways cabin crew are being sent personal criticism from irate passengers – including being called “c****”.

Stewardesses have contacted union reps after being labelled too fat or old – or even racist.

BA cabin crew have told how they feel degraded by spiteful passenger comments being sent to them directly from their bosses

BA workers are now being "scored" by bosses following customer feedback.

And comments from angry flyers are being exposed to the staff involved.

Many workers have complained about personal abuse they are being forced to read, and then graded on, as part of their performance review.

Other flight crew have been reduced to tears by personal abuse – including being dubbed fat.

Passenger comments sent directly to crew slammed them for everything from alleged speech impediments to race, age and gender

One stewardess complained to her union rep after “comments ranging from calling the crew c****, past it and other references to appearance and size”.

She went on: “It’s offensive, insulting and completely unacceptable that we are being subjected to this, let alone being judged on it.

“What can we do collectively to get this stopped.”

One passenger wrote about the experience of his crew on a flight from Heathrow to New York: “They could have been more friendly and gracious, which in previous years has been the hallmark of BA service.

“The cabin crew on my flight were the opposite, a group of crotchety, older males who appeared to be well past their ‘sell by’ dates for gracious service.”

A BA crew member reveals they were criticised for their age and raceGETTY IMAGES - GETTY

Another passenger complained about the captain on a flight from Brindisi, Italy to Heathrow having a “speech impediment”.

One BA stewardess said: “The comments on mine accuse us of racism, apparently we didn’t serve them a drink because of the colour of their skin and a lady over 50 needs a new shirt cos it was too ******* tight amongst other things, Really???”

Another wrote: “I got one very similar that said we treat the customers different to everyone else because they are African I was mortified, basically we were being called racist.”

One shocked crew member told how her feedback was “mean not even constructive”.

A BA crew member tells how they were criticised for not being able to speak Portuguese

Another said: “Can’t believe how many passengers comment on age and race, this is outrageous”.

One steward said: “Absolutely hysterical, just read a comment on mine. Something which I have never said to anyone in 30 years so why does it appear as a comment on my dashboard. Bloody ludicrous.”

BA’s controversial move follows new feedback surveys sent to flyers after long-haul flights.

Customer satisfaction scores are compiled and available to crew via an online "dashboard" – including comments on service.

One worker told The Sun: “This is crass from airline management.

“Any anonymous passenger with a grudge or just seeking a laugh can take the chance to take a pop at individual staff on their flight. It is so unfair and hurtful.”

BA claims that comments are screened before being sent to staff.

But The Sun has seen a series of personal criticisms targeting crew who then read the hurtful feedback.

BA introduced the "dashboard" to most cabin crew earlier this year.

6

BA cabin crew members have gone to their union reps over the hurtful complaints

The airline’s younger "mixed fleet" are on performance related pay, meaning extra bonuses if their personal customer feedback is good.

British Airways told The Sun “We ask customers for feedback and it's important we share this, to ensure we continue to improve our customer service.

“We’ve fixed an issue with our filtration system which meant a small number of inappropriate comments weren’t screened out.

“Comments made by customers do not contribute towards bonus schemes.”

[Guest]

Assaults, rows and coin tosses: airlines miss true scale of air rage as millions fly for first time

 

Unruly behaviour remains a threat to aviation safety, says IATA, and airlines need to prepare staff and crew to deal with disruptive passengers

 

PUBLISHED : Monday, 11 December, 2017, 8:00am

UPDATED : Monday, 11 December, 2017, 3:58pm

Airlines worldwide are likely to have “significantly underestimated” the true scale of air rage, as the incidents of unruly behaviour by first-time travellers are probably being under-reported in China and the rest of Asia, according to the global aviation industry guild.

Unruly behaviour declined 9.8 per cent last year to 9,837 reported cases, ranging from verbal spats to tampering with aircraft equipment, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA). However, the number of physical attacks rose by 1 percentage point to 12 per cent, according to the data by IATA, which represents 275 airlines with 83 per cent of global air traffic.

“Unruly passengers remain a significant daily issue for airlines around the world … [and] can threaten this hard fought safety record [for the aviation industry],” said IATA’s assistant director of external affairs Tim Colehan, last week in Geneva.

Elderly flight passenger throws coins into engine for ‘luck’, delays take-off for hours

Without a proper understanding of the true scale of potentially disruptive behaviour, airlines cannot adequately prepare, or train their crew, to deal with air rage, aviation officials said.

The data is particularly inadequate in China, where more people fly for the first time than anywhere else on Earth. The country’s air passengers may increase to 1.5 billion by 2036, according to IATA’s projection.

Chinese passenger opens emergency exit ‘to get some fresh air’ as plane prepares for take-off

Still, only six of China’s 38 commercial airlines – who operate a total of 12,000 flights everyday – ever report their data, including incidents of air rage, to the industry guild. The six carriers include Air China, China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines. China Eastern Airlines, the country’s third-largest carrier, doesn’t report its data, and neither does Shenzhen Airlines nor Sichuan Airlines.

Yet Chinese passengers have been responsible for dozens of cases of unruly behaviour, many of them captured on smartphones for social media. A Beijing couple stormed the runway to prevent an aircraft’s departure after they missed the check-in time, while an elderly woman in Shanghai tossed coins into an aircraft engine for good luck.

Coin-throwing granny joins ranks of weird flight hazards, from dirty dancer to drunk pilot

In response, the Chinese aviation authority created a no-fly black list, where offending passengers are banned from any air travel.

None of these cases, all reported in the media, would be recorded by IATA because they happened before passengers stepped on board an aircraft, underscoring the gap between statistics and the true state of air rage and unruly behaviour.

The problem may be further understated, as the Asia-Pacific region will see 3.5 billion people flying within the next two decades, led by growth in China, India and Indonesia. Many of these will be first-time air travellers, unfamiliar with the behavioural norms, culture or safety procedures required in flying.

Two Chinese men jailed after brawl in plane’s first-class cabin

“We do see mob-like behaviour at airports and a lot of these reports coming from China,” said Philip Baum, a certified aviation security and safety trainer. “That’s part and parcel of the speed of growth in aviation in certain markets, and the number of people taking to the skies for the first time is dramatically increasing.”

Anything to declare? Chinese tourist stopped at airport with a 3kg live lobster in his luggage

Baum was at the IATA summit last week to present tools on how cabin crew can spot an incident before it happens and show how incidents can be de-escalated on board.

“Even the figures we have indicate that there’s a problem that needs to be addressed in terms of training given and penalties that need to be introduced to punish those people who do find themselves perpetrating acts of unlawful incidents in civil aviation, even if it’s only an unruly passenger incidents and not a terrorist incident,” he said.u

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

December 11, 2017, 1:03 PM

Southwest Airlines passenger arrested after threatening to kill everyone on flight

Last Updated Dec 11, 2017 1:22 PM EST

SACRAMENTO -- A woman was arrested and charged after she threatened to kill fellow passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight from Portland to Sacramento. The chaotic scene was captured on video that a fellow passenger sent to CBS Sacramento.

The incident on Saturday began after a woman attempted to smoke in the airplane bathroom and alter the smoke detector, according to airline officials.

The passenger who shot the video said the woman was ordered back to her seat but began yelling irrationally, threatening to kill everyone on board, and demanding that the plane land. He said she pushed a flight attendant and had to be physically restrained by passengers and crew for the remaining 30 minutes of the flight.

Valerie Curbelo, 24, was arrested at the gate when the plane landed, and she was taken to Sacramento County Jail and charged with making criminal threats.

Valerie Curbelo

 SACRAMENTO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

Southwest Airlines sent a statement to CBS Portland affiliate KOIN-TV saying 136 customers were onboard the flight, which landed safely following the incident. The company said a passenger "violated federal laws by both smoking onboard an aircraft and by tampering with a smoke detector in an aircraft restroom".

Speaking to CBS Sacramento, Curbelo said her anxiety led to her decision to smoke in the restroom. "The anxiety, yeah the anxiety," Curbelo said without elaborating. She did not explain why she threatened to kill everyone. "I don't know," she said. "It was not me. It was not me."

Cabello is from Sandy, Oregon, just outside of Portland. She wouldn't discuss why she was flying to Sacramento.  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/southwest-airlines-valerie-curbelo-passenger-arrested-after-making-threats-on-flight/

[J.O.]

Sheesh, he looks younger than 24. I must be getting old.

[Wolfhunter]

15 minutes ago, J.O. said:

Sheesh, he looks younger than 24. I must be getting old.

It gets worse… he is a she! LOL Happy Birthday.

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, J.O. said:

Sheesh, he looks younger than 24. I must be getting old.   This will test your left eye

Time for new glasses. 

41 minutes ago, J.O. said:

Sheesh, he looks younger than 24. I must be getting old. And this will test your right eye. 

 

[Guest]

Now this is a tough one, what if the claim is spurious?

Airlines need better guidelines for handling in-flight sexual assaults

 

Originally published December 12, 2017 at 3:05 pm Updated December 12, 2017 at 3:11 pmFlight attendants should be trained how to properly respond to victims who report an in-flight assault, such as Allison Dvaladze of Seattle. Dvaladze said that when she told flight attendants on a Delta Air Lines flight out of Seattle last year that the stranger sitting next to her had grabbed her crotch, they temporarily moved her then asked her to move back to her original seat next to her accused assailant. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)

 

Airlines cannot continue to let passengers accused of groping women on flights walk off a plane with no investigation or follow up.

Women should have the confidence that they can fly safely on an airplane without being sexually harassed or assaulted. When that doesn’t happen, airlines should not react with silence or a shrug.

Yet as detailed in a story by Times reporter Dominic Gates, airlines do not report all in-flight sexual assaults to authorities on the ground. Nor are flight attendants always well-trained on how to deal with such situations.

As a result, airline passengers who grope their seatmates without their consent may walk off a plane and never face consequences for their actions. Such situations are “quite common,” a retired FBI special agent formerly assigned to Sea-Tac Airport told The Times.

Randi Zuckerberg, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, recently questioned how airlines handle such incidents after she said Alaska Airlines crew members “brushed off” her complaints about a fellow passenger making lewd and sexually inappropriate comments. Other women have reported more serious sexual offenses committed by fellow passengers.

While dim lighting and sleeping witnesses may make it difficult to investigate allegations of sexual assaults on flights, airlines have an obligation to follow up on these incidents. Airlines keep passenger records that can easily identify who is onboard a plane and where they are sitting.

Flight attendants should also be trained how to properly respond to victims who report an in-flight assault. Temporarily moving a passenger who says she was assaulted, then asking her to move back to her original seat next to her accused assailant is unacceptable. Yet that is what passenger Allison Dvaladze said happened to her on a Delta Air Lines flight out of Seattle last year. She told the flight attendants that the stranger sitting next to her had grabbed her crotch.

Dvaladze said the crew members assured her they would file a report, but Delta officials later said they had no record of the incident.

A survey of nearly 2,000 flight attendants last year found that one out of five had dealt with complaints of sexual assault from passengers. Yet law enforcement was contacted in fewer than half those cases.

Such inconsistent reporting increases the possibility that sexual predators will continue to prey on airline passengers during future flights, or go on to assault women in other settings.

If airlines will not establish their own guidelines for reporting and handling sexual assaults, Congress should consider adopting mandatory rules. A sensible proposal from Democratic U.S. Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania would require flight attendants to be trained in how to treat victims of onboard sexual assaults, while requiring the reporting of such crimes.

[Guest]

Unruly passenger prompts flight cancellation: 'I was extraordinarily scared. Like weak in the knees scared'

Passenger describes erratic behaviour by man escorted from flight

CBC NewsPosted: Dec 13, 2017 7:11 PM NT Last Updated: Dec 13, 2017 11:03 PM NT

Play

 

Here and Now

Passenger escorted off plane

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/porter-flight-unruly-passenger-st-johns-1.4447353?cmp=rss

Passenger escorted off plane 0:31

 

A man aboard a Porter flight that returned to the St. John's terminal Wednesday afternoon because of an unruly passenger says he was 'extraordinarily scared' by the passenger's behaviour.

Ben Taylor, a Memorial University student who was returning to Nova Scotia for the holidays, said the man who was escorted off the flight had been acting strangely even before getting on the plane.

Taylor said the man had a single small gym bag as luggage, with the price tag still on it and containing nothing but an aerosol can of deodorant, and bought his ticket at the Porter counter.

Passengers aboard Porter flight PD484 had to disembark and go through screening again after an unruly passenger prompted a departing plane to return to the terminal Wednesday afternoon. (Ted DIllon/CBC)

"He was buying a one-way ticket to Toronto but found out that it was quite expensive," said Taylor. The man then bought a ticket to Halifax instead but seemed unfamiliar with using a debit card and spoke in broken English. When the man boarded, he seemed confused and wasn't sure where to sit until a passenger helped him find the seat on his boarding pass.

"He seemed very anxious at the time," said Taylor. "He was looking around, he looked super, super-anxious."

He added that he overheard a flight attendant talking about the man making her nervous, which in turn worried Taylor. While the plane was taxiing down the runway, the man got up from his seat, prompting a flight attendant to take action.

The plane then stopped taxiing and sat on the runway for 30-45 minutes, said Taylor. The man got up from his seat to repeatedly ask for water.

"Almost like it was acted out, almost like it was rehearsed, he says, 'Can I have a water?' And it was so clear English, but before, at the checkout counter, he just didn't really seem like he was understanding English and he was very broken at it."

He repeatedly insisted on having water, despite the attendant asking him to return to his seat. After initially trying to sit down near the back, the man eventually did return to his seat, where he pressed the button to call a flight attendant. Using the plane's speaker system, said Taylor, an attendant told the man, he'd have to wait.

After about 20 minutes — during which the man continued to look around anxiously, said Taylor — the pilot announced the plane would be returning to the terminal, where security personnel boarded and escorted the man off the plane.

A man is escorted off a Porter flight Wednesday evening by security personnel. (Ben Taylor/Submitted)

He heard another passenger, who had been sitting beside him, say he had a "black brick" with him.

"She was like, it wasn't a phone, it wasn't a gaming device, or anything like that … it was just a black brick," he said. Porter staff asked passengers to share anything they'd observed about the man, and Taylor shared what he had seen.

"They were collectively like, OK, he was in different seats, he was hanging around different seats, there could have been multiple things that he dropped in pockets or dropped behind seats or in between seats," said Taylor, so passengers disembarked and the flight was cancelled. The airline handed out food vouchers and taxi chits, and put passengers up in hotels if they didn't live in the area, as the flight has been rescheduled for Thursday morning.

Staff handled incident well

Taylor said Porter and security personnel handled the incident well — but it was still unnerving.

"Right now I'm a lot calmer," he said. "At the time … I usually don't get scared about that kind of stuff … just seeing the gentleman, having the scenarios playing out in my mind, I was extraordinarily scared. Like weak in the knees scared."

A spokesperson for the airport authority confirmed for CBC that Transport Canada had all the passengers disembark for a precautionary re-screening. That re-screening then expanded to include all passengers in the departures lounge.

The spokesperson says there was no direct threat. Transport Canada declined to provide specific details about the incident beyond saying it was aware of what happened.

"Air operators have procedures to follow when dealing with unruly behaviour," said a spokesperson in an email.

[conehead]

I’d be a little anxious too.

[Guest]

January 5, 2018 2:16 pm

Updated: January 5, 2018 2:20 pm

United flight diverted after passenger badly soils bathroom with human waste

 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A United Airlines flight from Chicago to Hong Kong was diverted to Alaska after a passenger was accused of soiling two lavatories and trying to flush his shirt down a toilet, officials said Friday.

The man spread human waste in the lavatories Thursday before Flight 895 was diverted to Anchorage, airport police Lt. Joe Gamache said.

There were no indications the incident was related to terrorism, according to FBI spokeswoman Staci Feger-Pellessier. No injuries were reported.

[blues deville]

15 hours ago, Malcolm said:

January 5, 2018 2:16 pm

Updated: January 5, 2018 2:20 pm

United flight diverted after passenger badly soils bathroom with human waste

 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A United Airlines flight from Chicago to Hong Kong was diverted to Alaska after a passenger was accused of soiling two lavatories and trying to flush his shirt down a toilet, officials said Friday.

The man spread human waste in the lavatories Thursday before Flight 895 was diverted to Anchorage, airport police Lt. Joe Gamache said.

There were no indications the incident was related to terrorism, according to FBI spokeswoman Staci Feger-Pellessier. No injuries were reported.

Got to love these reporters and their headlines. I wonder if there’s a “good” way to soil a bathroom?

[UpperDeck]

People engage in very strange conduct and then are astounded by the adverse reaction of observers.

In my opinion, the Porter flight described above should have terminated at an earlier point and would have been if the crew had been less reticent.

On a recent flight ( I am reliably informed), passengers were boarding. Two men arrived at the aircraft and an FA believed they exchanged carry-on bags. One of the two then turned around in the jetway and returned up the boarding ramp...and did not return.

The FA relayed her observations/ concerns to others and the Captain was informed. Security tapes were reviewed and the "reluctant pax" located and questioned.

The point is simply that crew must be constantly alive to the possibility of terrorist activity and must respond immediately and appropriately to ANY conduct that deviates from the norm.

Better to express apologies than regrets.

[Kip Powick]

American Airlines to require de-escalation training for employees

The airline had been discussing such training for months but prioritized it after a fight broke out in April between a flight attendant and passenger over a baby stroller.

((((   LINKS WORK...GOOD VIDEO )))

Arguments, fights and meltdowns have been a part of commercial airline service for decades, but airborne conflicts have become viral internet sensations in the past few years, now that nearly every flyer is armed with a smartphone and access to social media.

“It has changed the dynamics of what happens in our planes and at our gate areas,” said Suzanne Boda, American Airlines’ senior vice president for Los Angeles.

For that reason, the Fort Worth-based carrier is requiring all flight attendants and employees who deal with customers to take training on how to de-escalate conflicts with passengers. That applies to about 65,000 American Airlines employees.

The addition of such training had been discussed at the airline for months but became a priority after an incident in April when a feud broke out between a flight attendant and a passenger over a baby stroller. As has been the case with other cabin imbroglios, it was caught on camera and posted on the internet.

“These things happen,” Boda said.

An industry trade group said last month that fewer passengers became unruly on commercial flights in 2016 but a bigger share of those incidents involved serious behaviour problems such as fighting or threatening passengers and crew members.

The training at American Airlines began last summer and will continue for several more months.

United Airlines said last year that it would review its employee training after a passenger was dragged from his seat after refusing to give it up to make space for crew members. It was caught on video as well.

[Guest]

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2018/02/01/american-airlines-crew-uses-zip-ties-duct-tape-restrain-woman-got-violent-flight-dallas

A passenger on an American Airlines flight from DFW International Airport to North Carolina was restrained with zip ties and duct tape Wednesday morning after authorities say she became violent.

Flight 1033 was approaching Charlotte Douglas International Airport when 36-year-old Charlene Sarieann Harriott, who was seated at the back of the plane, ran toward the cockpit, according to a criminal complaint.

Flight attendants chased after Harriott when she refused to stop, The Charlotte Observer reported, eventually restraining her in the first-class section with zip ties and duct tape as the plane touched down.

At that point, Harriott "became more aggressive and physically violent," according to the complaint — biting one crew member on the arm and breaking the skin, kicking another attendant in the stomach and leg and punching a third crew member in the arm.

Harriott was arrested on three counts of assault and battery, as well as the federal charge of interfering with a flight crew member. She was being held Thursday at the Mecklenburg County jail and will remain there until a detention hearing next week.

The flight attendants, who weren't seriously injured, were treated at a clinic at the airport.

[Seeker]

3 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

 

Flight 1033 was approaching Charlotte Douglas International Airport when 36-year-old Charlene Sarieann Harriott, who was seated at the back of the plane, ran toward the cockpit, according to a criminal complaint.

Flight attendants chased after Harriott when she refused to stop, The Charlotte Observer reported, eventually restraining her in the first-class section with zip ties and duct tape as the plane touched down.

 

I'm not sure that's the best way to get upgraded.

[conehead]

Didn’t know there was duct tape in the restraint kit. 

[Guest]

Siberian Airlines passenger punches, strangles and assaults passengers, calls baby a 'slut'

By Michael Bartiromo | Fox News

 

“He used abusive words [and] tried to strangle several young women,” said one of the passengers on the Siberian Airlines flight.  (iStock)

A Siberian Airlines passenger has been arrested after allegedly punching and strangling men, women and children — and even sexually assaulting one female passenger — on a flight from St. Petersburg to Novosibirsk, Russia.

 

 

The unidentified man, 47, reportedly began his rampage by pacing through the aisle, spouting obscenities. A flight attendant asked him to take a seat near the rear of the aircraft, but he ignored the request, according to a passenger quoted in The Sun.

ANGRY SHIRTLESS PASSENGER TRIES TO START FIGHT WITH GROUND CREW

“He kept walking up and down, and started attacking passengers randomly and beating them,” Siberian Airlines flyer Stanislav Semenov said.

“He used abusive words [and] tried to strangle several young women,” added passenger Alexey Mamontov.

According to Semenov, the crazed passenger became physical after taking a seat next to a female flyer, whom he proceeded to “sexually harass” by grabbing her and pulling her hair. He followed by punching and elbowing a young man’s wrist.

 

Moments later, he reportedly switched seats so he was directly behind a young girl, and placed his hand around her neck. A flight attendant pushed him away, according to Semenov, but the man only refocused his attention on another passenger holding a baby.

“He said to the baby ‘Hi, little slut’ — then tried to reach the child with his arms,” said Semenov.

The man then looked over at Semenov and threatened to “break [his] face,” so Semenov rose from his seat, at which point the man attacked Semenov.

“I hit him in return — at this moment other men rushed to us and blocked him, pushing him down on a vacant seat,” Semenov stated. Flight attendants and passengers also rushed to restrain the man by strapping him into the seat with belts, The Sun reports.

WATCH: AMERICAN AIRLINES AGENT AND PASSENGERS SQUABB OVER MISSED FLIGHT

Footage taken by one of the passengers shows a group of men appearing to beat the man into submission as passengers prepare to deplane.

After landing in Novosibirsk, authorities boarded the aircraft and placed the unruly passenger under arrest.

“The police station at the Tolmachevo airport received a message from the airline that several policemen were required to board the plane from St. Petersburg to Novosibirsk due to the aggressive behavior of one passenger,” said Irina Volk, a spokeswoman for the Russian Interior Ministry.

Police transferred to the man to the airport’s holding cell, where he continued to act out, bang on the walls and remove his shirt.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Police later escorted the man to a hospital for a medical evaluation, U.K.'s Daily Mail reports. Fellow passengers did not believe he was drunk at the time of the attacks

[st27]

Now ramp staff are being punched!!

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article202750614.html

[Guest]

Airline: Passenger on Boise-bound flight tried to open cabin door in midair

Boise Police and the FBI are investigating the incident.

 

Author: KTVB

Published: 10:27 PM MST March 5, 2018

Updated: 10:27 PM MST March 5, 2018

BOISE -- Passengers intervened to take down a woman who attempted to open an airplane cabin door during a flight to Boise Monday morning.

The incident happened onboard SkyWest flight 5449 from San Francisco to Boise.

A spokesman for SkyWest Airlines said the "unruly customer" was restrained, and the flight was able to land safely at the Boise Airport. Boise Police met the plane at the gate, and took the woman into custody.

[boestar]

Good luck opening the door on a pressurized aircraft.  The main cabin door on a large aircraft would feel like trying to lift about 18000 pounds when pressurized.

[DEFCON]

But she claimed to be God ... 

[boestar]

Puny God

 

[DEFCON]

deleted

[DEFCON]

Thanks JO ...  fixed 

[Guest]

Electrical fire on board Porter flight leads to emergency landing in Fredericton

Flight from Halifax to Montreal was diverted Saturday morning after passengers saw smoke and sparks

By Emma Smith, CBC NewsPosted: Mar 10, 2018 11:05 AM AT Last Updated: Mar 10, 2018 2:09 PM AT

Porter flight 1480 from Halifax to Montreal landed in Fredericton Saturday after a fire on the plane. (Submitted by G. Clark)

 

An electrical fire on board a Porter flight led to an unexpected landing at the Fredericton airport Saturday morning, and more delays for some 70 passengers eager to start their March Break. 

The 8:50 a.m. flight was headed from Halifax to Montreal when passengers noticed sparks and smoke in the cabin.

Porter confirmed in an email to CBC News that the crew reported "a small electrical fire that was extinguished prior to landing."

Passengers saw sparks coming from a light over the windows on board the Porter flight, says Ginny Clark. (Submitted by G. Clark)

Maria Bartholomew, a passenger on Porter flight 1480, said she was sleeping when "the light right by my seat just kind of exploded."

"So I woke up to kind of sharp, electric shocks on my face and neck and a popping sound," said Bartholomew, who's on her way to visit friends and family in the Toronto area. 

She said at first people seemed concerned. 

"I think the immediate reaction was just, 'Is this going to turn into something? Is there going to be more explosions?' Thankfully, it was just...the one," she said. 

Maria Bartholomew said she's been trying to get to Toronto since 4 p.m. yesterday. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

Ginny Clark from Dartmouth, N.S., told CBC News she also saw sparks coming from the light fixture.

Clark said there was a smell of burned plastic on board. 

A passenger alerted a flight attendant who "addressed it right away," said Clark, who's travelling with her daughter to Toronto.

A bus arrived at Fredericton airport to pick up stranded passengers. (Submitted by G. Clark)

"It was a little concerning, of course, but the flight attendant kept calm, cool and collected and basically said 'We're going to check this out,'" she said. 

After a few minutes, the 72 passengers were told that they'd be landing at the nearest airport, said Clark. 

Fire trucks arrived at the airport to offer shelter to passengers until they were bused off the tarmac. 

Porter responds

There were at least four fire trucks and multiple personnel surrounding the plane on the tarmac Saturday afternoon.

It's snowy and foggy in Fredericton, and plows were in operation on the runway.

Emergency crews are still on the scene. (Submitted by G. Clark)

Porter Airlines said there were 72 passengers and four crew members on board.

"We understand that everyone involved safely exited the aircraft in Fredericton," the company said in an emailed statement. "We are currently determining alternatives for the passengers to travel to their destination today on an another flight. The aircraft involved will be inspected and assessed prior to becoming serviceable at a later time." 

Johanne Gallant, president and CEO of the Fredericton International Airport, said no one was injured and they're working to get passengers to their destinations. 

There have been a few delays but planes are continuing to land at the airport, which remains open, Gallant said.

Flight already delayed Friday

The passengers on 1480 had already had their flight delayed Friday night due to bad weather in Halifax. 

Linda Yeates is trying to get to Toronto for a Leafs game tonight. 

"Oh, we better make our Leafs game, I think we will," she said glancing at her watch. "We've got time yet."  

Linda Yeates doesn't want to miss the Leafs game in Toronto tonight. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

Bartholomew said she's still waiting for information about when she'll be able to leave Fredericton. 

"We haven't been told anything, so I guess they're going through protocol so I have no idea, I have no idea what's happening," she said.

When CBC News spoke to her, Bartholomew was waiting in line for a $15 voucher so she could buy food. She said passengers were told to leave all their belongings on board the plane. 

"It could have been a lot worse, so I'm thankful for that," she said.

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Transportation Safety Board of Canada

14:37 ET

---

DARTMOUTH, NS, March 10, 2018 /CNW/ - The Transportation Safety Board is deploying a team of investigators following a diversion to the Fredericton Airport, New Brunswick, due to an electrical fire aboard an aircraft operated by Porter Airlines. The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence.

The TSB is an independent agency that investigates marine, pipeline, railway and aviation transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.

 

The TSB is online at www.tsb.gc.ca. Keep up to date through RSS, Twitter (@TSBCanada), YouTube, Flickr and our blog.