Bad Publicity for US

[Dilligas]

Blind Passenger Detained



Anyone in the know care to share the story behind the story? If this article is accurate, more embarassment for US and especially PHL airport police.

 

[necigrad]

Any wrongdoing was by the police, US was only the stage for the incident. I agree that we only see one side of the story, but from this mans account the police felt (just or unjust) the need for some force. Even a "bad" cop needs some justification, however misplaced, to act. Otherwise the story would be "I complained abou the delay, and then the police started beating me up".

 

[jimntx]

There is no way US Airways is going to come out on top in this. Why if it is a mechanical delay, passengers can't use cell phones or go to the lav or get a drink of water? ATC hold or something like that where the takeoff order could be issued at any moment is one thing, but I doubt that at PHL if it is a mechanical you are going to fix it and take off immediately.

Settle out of court. A jury (all of whom have had a bad experience with some airline (and in PHL it would probably be US) will award big bucks in damages. This will really get messy if other passengers are willing to testify that the customer in question was not being unruly that the crew just didn't want to be bothered.

 

[PSA1979]

Looks like the flight left the gate at 2121 and retured to the gate at 2155, and eventually left again at 2301. As usual, the truth is probably alot different than what the passenger said. He most likely was told to sit down, because the plane was taxing back to the gate.

 

[ggiby]

There is no way US Airways is going to come out on top in this. Why if it is a mechanical delay, passengers can't use cell phones or go to the lav or get a drink of water? ATC hold or something like that where the takeoff order could be issued at any moment is one thing, but I doubt that at PHL if it is a mechanical you are going to fix it and take off immediately.

Settle out of court. A jury (all of whom have had a bad experience with some airline (and in PHL it would probably be US) will award big bucks in damages. This will really get messy if other passengers are willing to testify that the customer in question was not being unruly that the crew just didn't want to be bothered.

You are only hearing one side to the story. I doubt that the man was refused water, or lav services.....

 

[fudgerunyard]

You are only hearing one side to the story. I doubt that the man was refused water, or lav services.....

This IS US Airways we're talking about so nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

 

[PSA1979]

This IS US Airways we're talking about so nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

No, this is some of the best and most experienced flight attendants in the Industry, so I highly doubt anyone was denied water and restroom time. And since we are only talking about a 34 minute window where the airplane doors were closed, who is exaggerating what happened? :down:

 

[SMFops]

If you want to see the other side of the story just go to youtube and type in angry blind dude, watch both parts, and read what the passenger who is filming has to say. That should explain everything.

 

[jimntx]

Oh, there is a real possibility that the guy redefines jerk for our generation--Can you say, "I'm handicapped. Any attempt on your part to stop me from doing whatever I want to do is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act"? I'm just saying that if any his version of the story is true, US can not win in the court of public opinion or before a jury of lay(non-airline) people. EVERYONE has had some bad experience with an airline in the 9-11 era where they think they were denied their rights. And, it has nothing to do with the law. It's just the airline employees acting like Nazis. (You know you've heard this at least once from a passenger.)

We are the industry the public loves to hate. Just like 25 years ago it was the U.S. auto industry. It's why the Japanese automakers got the upper hand in the U.S. The Big 3 went through a stage of building not very good cars and when you tried to complain (or worse, get the problem fixed), you got "But, sir. You have driven this car on city streets. You have nullified your warranty."

 

[jcw]

Looks like the flight left the gate at 2121 and retured to the gate at 2155, and eventually left again at 2301. As usual, the truth is probably alot different than what the passenger said. He most likely was told to sit down, because the plane was taxing back to the gate.

Last week I was on US 770 from SFO and we could not move on the tarmac for over 5 minutes as a passenger stood up with an infant and would not sit back down after the FA instructed him to sit back down. This is for safety reasons - anyone who travels knows planes tend to jerk a bit when stopping and starting during taxiing and that's why you need to stay in your seat, unless you are parked and the crew lets you move around.

The passenger on 770 refused multiple times to sit down.

 

[aptboeses]

Here are the links to the youtube videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCDp2KKTffg
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHHufRW67dY

After watching both I don't think he has much of a leg to stand on when it comes to a lawsuit. He was being uncooperative with the gate agent and then the police. If he failed to heed instructions provided by the flight attendants he violated an FAR by interfering with the duties of a crew member.

Though I do have to point out the Philadelphia police did come off quite well from what I could see and hear in the video.

 

[N965VJ]

Note to self: while being arrested onboard an aircraft, don’t scream like a little girl. It’ll show up on YouTube and all my friends will laugh at me.

 

[Dilligas]

Thanks for providing the links to the you tube clips.

It provided a different perspective on the story than the article I linked to

D

 

[Harry Callahan]

Here are the links to the youtube videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCDp2KKTffg
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHHufRW67dY

After watching both I don't think he has much of a leg to stand on when it comes to a lawsuit. He was being uncooperative with the gate agent and then the police. If he failed to heed instructions provided by the flight attendants he violated an FAR by interfering with the duties of a crew member.

Though I do have to point out the Philadelphia police did come off quite well from what I could see and hear in the video.

I think the PHL. police were pretty nice to this guy.