Icare320
12th May 2008, 13:27
Who did heard about this incident. I would be very happy to have some more details, for example what they did against this fire, what was in fire, etc.
May 10, 2008 - Bathroom Fire Forces Flight To Make Emergency Landing At Fargo Airport; FBI Investigating
FARGO, North Dakota (USA) -- The FBI is investigating the cause of a bathroom fire that forced a Compass Airlines jet to make an emergency landing Wednesday at Fargo’s Hector International Airport.
None of the 69 passengers aboard the 76-seat jet was injured when it landed at 10:44 p.m. without incident, Northwest Airlines spokesman Paul Skrbec said.
Compass Airlines is a subsidiary of Northwest.
The airplane, an Embraer 175, had been headed from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Regina, Saskatchewan.
Passengers were held in Hector Airport’s departure lounge and interviewed by the FBI and Fargo police, said Shawn Dobberstein, executive director of the airport.
After being interviewed, passengers were allowed to reclaim their luggage. Some stayed at the airport, while others went to hotels or restaurants and were provided shuttle service back to the airport, Dobberstein said.
ADDITIONAL STORY INFORMATION :
Fire on Regina-bound plane forces emergency landing; Fire broke out in plane's restroom
REGINA, Canada -- From 30,000 feet to touchdown in eight minutes.
That's what 72 frightened passengers and four crew members endured after a fire broke out on board Compass Airlines flight 2040 en route to Regina on Wednesday night. The Embraer 175 jet originated in Minneapolis, Minn. and was in the vicinity of Fargo, N.D. when a fire broke out in a bathroom on board.
Dale Dirksen from Caronport had been dozing on the flight when he heard the beeping sound of a smoke alarm and opened his eyes to find the woman in the next seat braced in the crash position.
"I heard the commotion, turned around. (There was) a lot of smoke, a lot of people looking really terrified. The next thing you know, the last probably eight or nine rows were running to the front of the plane because of the smoke. Next thing you know they were all sitting in the laps of the people up front ... (A flight attendant) came on (the intercom) and said, 'Electrical fire and we're going to be making an emergency landing,'" Dirksen recalled after arriving safely in Regina on Thursday.
The flight landed at Hector International Airport in Fargo without incident but was met by emergency crews on the tarmac. No passengers or crew were injured during the incident.
Brian McCusker said he was first alerted that something was wrong when he saw a flight attendant run to the back of the plane with a fire extinguisher.
"The people from the back were getting directed to the front. I was right at the very front so people were put on the floor in front of me. They asked for people to take kids and put them on their laps and put seat belts on them,'" McCusker recalled.
Corry Billings from Yorkton explained the flight crew took charge of the emergent situation.
"One of the attendants had on big headgear or something and was yelling and running up and down the aisle. Some people were getting up (to help) and they were yelled at and (told) to sit down, put their seat belts on, stay sitting ... We just kept declining fast. I was thankful the pilot, he was great. He went right down, he got us there quick," said Billings.
During the frantic situation, McCusker said people weren't necessarily panicked but there was a lot of crying among the passengers.
"I've never been so scared in my life," he said.
That fear was also shared by Billings.
"I was just praying and asking God to protect us," she said.
Relief came a short time later when McCusker looked out the window beside him and saw Fargo's lights below, along with the lights lining the airport runway. When the passengers and crew landed and made it into the airport, they were interviewed by local police and FBI agents, who were involved since the incident occurred over state lines and due to terrorism concerns.
Once the passengers were through with the FBI around 3:30 a.m., they were taken to a hotel for the night. But it was a very short night -- Dirksen said he had to set his alarm for 5:30 a.m. in order to catch the flight back to Minneapolis, where passengers then caught a plane to Regina on Thursday.
After landing, Dirksen checked a flight tracker Web site that showed the Compass jet had actually flown past Fargo and turned back to make the emergency landing.
"They told us (Thursday morning) that we went from 30,000 feet to touchdown in eight minutes, which is pretty much a dive. It was something, you know. I normally have a lot of problems with motion sickness, but nothing. I think maybe adrenaline cuts in and I just didn't feel it," said Dirksen.
"The woman next to me, I think, was going to have a heart attack. I didn't feel this but I looked at her and I said, 'It's going to be OK.' I didn't think it was going to be OK, I just felt like, 'Well that's probably the right thing to say.'"
Billings said the passengers were offered two $100 vouchers for travel with Northwest Airlines -- of which Compass Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary -- which must be used separately.
However, she wasn't pleased to hear one passenger was bumped up to first class for a flight back to Minneapolis early Thursday morning and was given a round-trip ticket for anywhere in North America. She is planning to complain to Northwest about the situation.
"I just think it's unfair (and) too bad we can't all get the same treatment as we all went through it," she said. "We all had to wait until 3 in the morning standing in line, getting processed and get an hour of sleep at the hotel and then up again and have to go through it all."
May 10, 2008 - Bathroom Fire Forces Flight To Make Emergency Landing At Fargo Airport; FBI Investigating
FARGO, North Dakota (USA) -- The FBI is investigating the cause of a bathroom fire that forced a Compass Airlines jet to make an emergency landing Wednesday at Fargo’s Hector International Airport.
None of the 69 passengers aboard the 76-seat jet was injured when it landed at 10:44 p.m. without incident, Northwest Airlines spokesman Paul Skrbec said.
Compass Airlines is a subsidiary of Northwest.
The airplane, an Embraer 175, had been headed from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Regina, Saskatchewan.
Passengers were held in Hector Airport’s departure lounge and interviewed by the FBI and Fargo police, said Shawn Dobberstein, executive director of the airport.
After being interviewed, passengers were allowed to reclaim their luggage. Some stayed at the airport, while others went to hotels or restaurants and were provided shuttle service back to the airport, Dobberstein said.
ADDITIONAL STORY INFORMATION :
Fire on Regina-bound plane forces emergency landing; Fire broke out in plane's restroom
REGINA, Canada -- From 30,000 feet to touchdown in eight minutes.
That's what 72 frightened passengers and four crew members endured after a fire broke out on board Compass Airlines flight 2040 en route to Regina on Wednesday night. The Embraer 175 jet originated in Minneapolis, Minn. and was in the vicinity of Fargo, N.D. when a fire broke out in a bathroom on board.
Dale Dirksen from Caronport had been dozing on the flight when he heard the beeping sound of a smoke alarm and opened his eyes to find the woman in the next seat braced in the crash position.
"I heard the commotion, turned around. (There was) a lot of smoke, a lot of people looking really terrified. The next thing you know, the last probably eight or nine rows were running to the front of the plane because of the smoke. Next thing you know they were all sitting in the laps of the people up front ... (A flight attendant) came on (the intercom) and said, 'Electrical fire and we're going to be making an emergency landing,'" Dirksen recalled after arriving safely in Regina on Thursday.
The flight landed at Hector International Airport in Fargo without incident but was met by emergency crews on the tarmac. No passengers or crew were injured during the incident.
Brian McCusker said he was first alerted that something was wrong when he saw a flight attendant run to the back of the plane with a fire extinguisher.
"The people from the back were getting directed to the front. I was right at the very front so people were put on the floor in front of me. They asked for people to take kids and put them on their laps and put seat belts on them,'" McCusker recalled.
Corry Billings from Yorkton explained the flight crew took charge of the emergent situation.
"One of the attendants had on big headgear or something and was yelling and running up and down the aisle. Some people were getting up (to help) and they were yelled at and (told) to sit down, put their seat belts on, stay sitting ... We just kept declining fast. I was thankful the pilot, he was great. He went right down, he got us there quick," said Billings.
During the frantic situation, McCusker said people weren't necessarily panicked but there was a lot of crying among the passengers.
"I've never been so scared in my life," he said.
That fear was also shared by Billings.
"I was just praying and asking God to protect us," she said.
Relief came a short time later when McCusker looked out the window beside him and saw Fargo's lights below, along with the lights lining the airport runway. When the passengers and crew landed and made it into the airport, they were interviewed by local police and FBI agents, who were involved since the incident occurred over state lines and due to terrorism concerns.
Once the passengers were through with the FBI around 3:30 a.m., they were taken to a hotel for the night. But it was a very short night -- Dirksen said he had to set his alarm for 5:30 a.m. in order to catch the flight back to Minneapolis, where passengers then caught a plane to Regina on Thursday.
After landing, Dirksen checked a flight tracker Web site that showed the Compass jet had actually flown past Fargo and turned back to make the emergency landing.
"They told us (Thursday morning) that we went from 30,000 feet to touchdown in eight minutes, which is pretty much a dive. It was something, you know. I normally have a lot of problems with motion sickness, but nothing. I think maybe adrenaline cuts in and I just didn't feel it," said Dirksen.
"The woman next to me, I think, was going to have a heart attack. I didn't feel this but I looked at her and I said, 'It's going to be OK.' I didn't think it was going to be OK, I just felt like, 'Well that's probably the right thing to say.'"
Billings said the passengers were offered two $100 vouchers for travel with Northwest Airlines -- of which Compass Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary -- which must be used separately.
However, she wasn't pleased to hear one passenger was bumped up to first class for a flight back to Minneapolis early Thursday morning and was given a round-trip ticket for anywhere in North America. She is planning to complain to Northwest about the situation.
"I just think it's unfair (and) too bad we can't all get the same treatment as we all went through it," she said. "We all had to wait until 3 in the morning standing in line, getting processed and get an hour of sleep at the hotel and then up again and have to go through it all."