AirTran emergency landing

[Dream Land]

Web Editor: Michael King
Last Modified: 8/22/2006 10:49:40 PM
An AirTran flight from Atlanta to New York’s LaGuardia Airport made an emergency landing in Charlotte on Tuesday night after a flight attendant noticed that a passenger had a bottle of water.
The flight, AirTran Flight 372 with 137 passengers and 5 crew members left the gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport at 5:53 p.m., but due to the heavy thundershowers in Metro Atlanta, the plane had to sit on the tarmac in Atlanta until the weather cleared.
The flight departed Atlanta at 7:39 p.m.
Shortly after take-off, when the flight attendants made their cabin check, one of them noticed a passenger pulling out a bottle of water. The flight attendant immediately notified the captain.
Based on new federal regulations after the recent uncovered terror plot, the plane made an emergency landing at Charlotte’s Douglas International Airport.
The flight was met in Charlotte by authorities and TSA officials. Everyone was escorted off of the airplane; the passenger with the water was interviewed by police. Everyone else was re-screened.
The plane was given the okay to continue on to New York City after 10 p.m. Tuesday. The water-bearing passenger was allowed to continue along with the other passengers on the flight.
What's the world coming to? :eek:
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=83684

[Xeque]

This whole thing has gone beyond stupidity - it is now through ludicrous and well into insanity.

For God's sake. Get a grip!!!

Otherwise. Let's just dismantle the whole concept of travel by air and go back to the days when it took days/weeks/months to get anywhere.

[Radio check 123]

Oh dear... this is really so insane.... Diversion just bcos of a bottle of water? Isn't there any flexibility here? check if the pax drink the bottle or pour it down the toilet or just confiscate it and store it somewhere cool ( in the chiller or ice bin) etc etc ...:ugh:

[chandlers dad]

Complete lunacy. Where is it going to end?

[oceancrosser]

The lack of responses from our American colleagues defending this seems to suggest even they are appalled...

Small wonder I have been avoiding our US routes for a couple of years now...

[Doors to Automatic]

I have often been amazed at the complete lack of common sense when it comes to our American friends and this latest debacle only reinforces that view!

What next? A diversion when a baby soils its nappy!?

[sidman]

There is always more to every story. It seems he gave his water up to the crew but then pulled out a MRE(Meal Ready to Eat) and started cooking his meal. When the smell from the cooking meal hit the crew that is when they diverted to CLT.

[Dream Land]

Cooking, as in breaking out a small stove and putting fire to something? :eek:

Do you have a link?

[PaperTiger]

Cooking, as in breaking out a small stove and putting fire to something? :eek:
Do you have a link?Haven't seen confirmation for the current incident, but it wouldn't be the first time.
See top item here: http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/callback_issues/cb_282.htm :=

[Dream Land]

I see, maybe someone with recent military experience can enlighten us on how the device works, do MRE's include these devices? :confused:

[malanda]

No military experience, but I have clicked the odd mouse now and then.

From http://science.howstuffworks.com/mre4.htm:

Because of the importance of a hot meal, all military MREs come packaged with a flameless heater. The flameless heater uses a simple chemical reaction to provide sufficient heat to warm the food.

Chemical heating is actually a pretty widespread natural phenomenon. Everyone has seen iron rust. Rust is a natural process in which iron atoms combine with oxygen atoms to create reddish, crumbly iron oxide. The process is normally very slow, but we all know that wet iron rusts faster. Iron exposed to salty ocean water rusts the fastest.

When iron turns to rust, the oxidation process generates heat. But rust forms so slowly that the heat generated is unnoticeable. We are all familiar with much faster oxidation reactions as well. For example, when you "oxidize" the carbon atoms in a charcoal briquette, they get quite hot. We use the word burning to describe this high-speed sort of oxidation.

The idea behind a flameless heater is to use the oxidation of a metal to generate heat. Magnesium metal works better than iron because it rusts much more quickly. To make a flameless heater, magnesium dust is mixed with salt and a little iron dust in a thin, flexible pad about the size of a playing card. To activate the heater, a soldier adds a little water. Within seconds the flameless heater reaches the boiling point and is bubbling and steaming. To heat the meal, the soldier simply inserts the heater and the MRE pouch back in the box that the pouch came in. Ten minutes later, dinner is served!

[Dream Land]

I see, I thought I've been barbequing all these years but actually I've been "oxidizing". :}