Flight 222
Holy shit! What a horrifying experience! So what did the air crew do after you safely landed – I understand they didn’t give any explanation- but what did they tell the passengers at the time, how did they respond to your shall we say inconvenience?
Each airline has a process by which every incident is reviewed, the crew interviewed – faa and I forget who else are involved. Usually the crew is videotaped. These are used as learning experiences and each incident has value in that something can be learned to prevent further occurances, or techniques to respond to incidents are derived. The results are not shared with the public, but some response is definitely in order.
Keep plugging away – try the interstate commerce commission or whatever it’s called. They may be more forthcoming than the faa, who are notoriously tightlipped.
We’re trained to assess passengers as they board, pick out who we would ask for assistance in the event of an emergency. We look for people who seem calm under pressure, capable, strong enough to open the door if necessary. There are specific words we use in evacuation. Did the flight attendant say “you – come with me” ? Do this, do that. “Get the people out.”
Sometimes I dream the phrases.
Anyway, good luck in your search for answers. There must be a local weekly alternative newspaper in Seattle, enlist their help. (was the aircraft a Boeing??)
ciao
Judy
Hey Judy,
Holy shit! What a horrifying experience! So what did the air crew do after you safely landed – I understand they didn’t give any explanation- but what did they tell the passengers at the time, how did they respond to your shall we say inconvenience?
Mostly, they hustled us onto another plane. There were two other planes from Seattle that had to connect with 222 in LA, combining for the one flight to Mexico. They gave me free cognacs on the flight to LA. I needed them.
Each airline has a process by which every incident is reviewed, the crew interviewed – faa and I forget who else are involved. Usually the crew is videotaped. These are used as learning experiences and each incident has value in that something can be learned to prevent further occurances, or techniques to respond to incidents are derived. The results are not shared with the public, but some response is definitely in order.
You tell them that, wouldja? They obviously don’t care what I have to say.
We’re trained to assess passengers as they board, pick out who we would ask for assistance in the event of an emergency. We look for people who seem calm under pressure, capable, strong enough to open the door if necessary. There are specific words we use in evacuation. Did the flight attendant say “you – come with me” ? Do this, do that. “Get the people out.”
I was minding my own business, sitting at a window seat forward of the wing, trying to come to terms with what I expected was going to be an untimely and ignominious demise. I really didn’t want to talk to anybody at that moment. Then a stew sticks her head into the row and says, “Sir, would you please come with me?”
“Why?”
“We may need your help at the back of the plane, in case the rear emergency exit doesn’t open.”
Oh, that’s fucking GREAT! I don’t want to be at the back of the plane to begin with, which is why I always sit forward of the wing. Now she’s filling my head with visions of wings and engines digging into the tarmac, sending huge chunks of metal and flaming jet fuel right into my face. Like I needed that.
Yeah, I went back there, but I wasn’t the least bit happy about it. Further, the stew herself was practically in tears, trying to keep it together. Afterwards, she told me it’s the first time anything like that had ever happened to her, and all she could think of (beyond the immediate situation) was her two small kids at home.
We landed without incident, and I didn’t have to pop open the rear door. That didn’t make the ride any less scary.
The plane? Funny you should ask. It was an MD-80, piece of shit inherited from Boeing’s takeover of Lockheed and subject to the exceptional Alaska “maintenance” program. In the next few weeks there was a spate of MD-80 incidents, including Flight 261 and a plane that came into SFO with an engine on fire. The FAA should have grounded all of them IMMEDIATELY, but that would have meant putting people’s safety above airline profits. And boy howdy, we sure can’t do that. So when all this shit started to be uncovered about Alaska and their maintenance falsifications, I was way ahead of the curve. Alaska should have had its license to fly revoked on the spot.
I haven’t flown Alaska since, except to get home from Mexico two years ago. And those assholes made it just about as incovenient as they could. I used some Continental miles for the ticket, after Alaska and Continental made their co-share deal. I flew into Manzanillo, 15 minutes from my hotel. When I wanted to come home several weeks later, Alaska told me there were no seats available on the Manzanillo planes, and that I had to come back via Puerto Vallarta. PV is a four hour Mexican bus ride and a major hassle away. I went to the ZLO airport to talk with a super, and she told me the only person who could help me was at a counter in PV. So, either way I was being sent back on the long bus. Meanwhile, I’m watching all my other buddies getting stand-by seats on the same planes I’m being told are sold out!
The real story? Because I used my Continental miles instead of my Alaska miles, they dropped me to the bottom of the food chain. They wouldn’t admit this to my face, of course, but I had a mole in the agency who copped to it. The next morning I dialed Alaska’s stateside 800 number and chewed out one of their supervisors. I told him, “After what I’ve been through with you guys, and after you just killed some people I know!, you’re lucky I’m flying with you at all. The least you can do is get me on a freakin’ local plane!” Long silent pause on the other end of the line, followed by, “Would you like a window or aisle seat, sir?” Sheesh.
With all this in the hopper, I find it astounding that not one single media person in this market has seen fit to follow up on my letters. And believe me, I started e-mailing them from Mexico two-and-a-half years ago.
Jef