Doh-kul

[Carjockey]

I have to fly this route fairly often, on the last occasion I had my family with me and it was a bit hairy.

We boarded on the tarmac at DOH, a/c was a well used, if the condition of the seat upholstery was anything to go by, A330-200 or maybe 300.

The flight was full and the a/c was being fuelled when we boarded, there was a STRONG smell of fuel in the cabin after the doors were closed.

We took off and I thought that we'd boarded the space shuttle, so fast was the climb. But things settled down and we seemed to cruising normally. About 40 minutes into the flight, the a/c seemed to be pushed downward and there was a BIG vibration (in fact it was more of a juddering) through the whole a/c. We were nose up not diving, but the sensation of falling was strong.

A old muslim lady behind us started crying and praying very loudly, I looked around and saw a lot of very scared faces, children were crying. My daughter (10 yo) was terrified, my wife was scared and I was feeling a bit jelly-like myself. After what seemed a long time, the juddering and falling sensation stopped and we seemed to resume normal cruise.

Then about 40 mins later as food was being served, it happened again. The crew abandoned the food trolleys and left them in the aisles, one of the female crew curled up on the floor next to an exit and looked terrified. The old lady started off again, kids crying, etc. Then it stopped and again we seemed to be cruising normally.

This happened 4 more times during the rest of the flight, but eventually we landed safely at KUL, where yours truly headed for the nearest bar for a few much needed stiffeners. I have never been so glad to get myself and my family off an aircraft!

The thing is, during all the excitement there was not one word of explanation or reassurance from the flight deck or from the cabin crew, which I found puzzling to say the least.

I won't say which airline (you can probably guess), but welcome any comments from all you pilots and crew out there.

Happy landings...

[loc22550]

Well i guess it's qatar airways.

-Refuelling while boarding is something "normal" and this happens in most of the airlines, (only some airport does not allowed it)(cabin crew are "supposed to make a passenger adress" and follow some safety procedure,not convinced this is well followed in Q.R,but that's another story..).

-The smell of fuel after door closed (engine start)might be unconvenient for a while but again nothing to do with Qatar airways..according wind direction part of the exhaust gas(engine) might enter the APU inlet valve(auxiliary power unit situated into the tail of the a/C that suppy electicity and air conditioning on ground.(switch off after the engine start).

You are fully correct:an annoucement from cabin or cockpit crew would'nt hurt anybody in such a circumstance..."up and down Flight":confused:.

[Carjockey]

Yes it was Qatar Airways and it was hairy! If it had been a different airline I may have complained and asked for an explanation, there were a lot of shaken up people on that flight. But I realise that a complaint to QA would probably not have been taken any further.

I would like to hear any speculation on the possible causes of such a/c behaviour, it disturbs me that the same thing could recur six times on a seven hour flight. Also I'd like to know if it is procedure for the cabin crew to abandon their trolleys in the aisles during such an incident?

Happy landings...

[rogerg]

It doesn't sound much like the Qatar we have advertising "The five star airline" over here.

[Carjockey]

Maybe they mean minus 5 star? I could agree with that :E

[WHBM]

It doesn't sound much like the Qatar we have advertising "The five star airline" over here.
Qatar Airways, like a number of the Middle-Eastern carriers, have their widebody fleet divided into two types of configuration.

There is the "full international" layout, with First, Business and Economy cabins, and it is the First Class layout that you see featured in international advertising. The other cabins are internationally-competitive as well.

Then there is the "other routes" layout, no First, small Business cabin, bulk of the aircraft laid out for Economy. The aircraft are no older, and by and large the configuration as done for them by Airbus when the aircraft is new is how it stays for its life. The arrangement does reflect the different demand on different routes.

You can imagine, of course, that it is not only the physical seating standards that differ between the two sub-fleets. Checking whether the flight offers F class, even if you are travelling in Y, will give you a bit of an advance clue.