JAL flight delayed after captain forgets passport

[What_does_this_button_do?]

from japantoday.com

[quote]
Friday, December 21, 2001 at 20:00 JST
NARITA — A Japan Airlines (JAL) captain on Friday caused a Shanghai-bound flight from Narita airport to take off an hour and a half late by forgetting to bring his passport aboard, according to airline officials.

Flight 791 was scheduled to depart at 10:10 a.m. with 372 passengers and crew but the captain realized just before departure that he was without his passport. He made an in-flight announcement saying a delay had been caused by what he called a lack of documents, the officials said. (Kyodo News)<hr></blockquote>

[noax2grind]

So? Could you explain the point of this, apart from highligting some poor chaps embarrassment. Of course, you have never forgotten your passport or left your pass on the dressing table etc!!
Seems to me a `problem with documentation` is a very reasonable explaination to the pax!
I`m quite certain he will have suffered quite enough self recrimination and from his management without his professional collegues adding more on this forum.
If he reads this, I wish the aforementioned Capt all the best for the future, secure in the knowledge the he now knows for sure that he will NEVER leave his pasport behind again..... can you be so sure!!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS!!!!!!!!

[Devils Advocate]

Err, when I forget mine I just present my ATPL and get one of the other crew members to vouch for my bonefides with the security jobs-worth - and it always works for me.

[crewrest]

Always a laugh arriving in the USA without your passport

[vmo]

Just did the same, no passport, no licenses, etc. Was lucky I found out when I parked the car 30 mins. prior to briefing. Went home and back again, got to the a/c dep-15. Good FO, non etops, extra fuel and away we went. Should do this more often.

[Kaptin M]

Devils Advocate, China is one of the (few) countries that takes all of the crew's passports on arrival, and returns them with an entry and exit stamp for TRANSIT flights - absolutely ridiculous!!
I guess it's to check that each crew member has a current China visa - the cost of which is a couple of hundred USD's per 6 months - simply to transit or turnaround, and NOT leave the airport precincts. As such (because of the cost), not all pilots are issued visas, which in itself is a blessing for those who aren't, because - as you can imagine - the visas take up a full page, and the entry/exit chops amass fairly quickly.

One can only GUESS what the penalty would have been, had he (the JAL Capt) arrived, minus his passport - probably an impounding of the aeroplane.

[Budgie69]

A few years ago I arrived JFK and presented my passport to a doddery dour little immigration man. After a minute he announced that there was no visa in the passport. I almost said "Don't be so stupid", but manfully restrained myself, gently took the passport from him and proceeded to flick through the pages for the visa until I came to the back page showing a photo of - my son. We had been on a family holiday I had picked up the wrong passport on returning to work.

I thought I was in for the hefty fine plus endless paperwork, but the little man went into a back office, and returned a few minutes later, saying "It's OK, your on file", and waved me through!

[innuendo]

A couple of years ago a flight attendant from a Canadian airline was fined one thousand pounds for arriving at heathrow without a passport.

[Huck]

Kaptin M-

my company applies for visas for all of its pilots, but the Chinese only approve about 50%. Any idea why? No discernable pattern that I can see.

[Kaptin M]

Sorry Huck - no idea why they would refuse them.

Perhaps I was a little "tongue-in-cheek" in stating that the aircraft might be impounded, however I'm sure the gentleman around whom this topic has evolved, saved JAL a sizeable fine and possible further future "recriminations" by the Chinese authorities, more especially so in light of the current trade embargos between Japan and China!

[Barry Fields]

What_does_this_button_do?

Looks to me like it initiates reverse thrust with noax2grind

[ijp]

Kuwait Airways Capt enroute to Xiomen China forgot his passport, he was held by the police with a $7,000. fine until we departed.