One way of getting people to sit down whilst still taxying.....

[reverserunlocked]

Had a chuckle on a flight I took last week from Istanbul to Beirut with Turkish. We landed in a pretty spectacular thunderstorm and were still heavily braking for the turn off when assorted passengers (as always in Beirut) jumped up and headed down the aisle, opening overhead bins as they went.

I've seen this happen on Lufthansa and KLM before and those hosties don't take any crap - a swift and brutal 'SIT DOWN!' over the PA did the job. Sadly the Turkish crew were a bit slower off the mark, simply playing the 'please remain seated with your belt fastened until we reach the terminal building' automated PA again. As we lurched around BEY's taxyways with idiots still standing in the aisle clinging to their duty free it seems that the hostie must have buzzed through to the Captain as he gave a fierce jab on the brakes, twice! :D

That got them sat down, I'll tell you. More stamping on the brakes, please, Captains as it is very funny....

[Final 3 Greens]

I'm pleased you found it funny, as I got hit on the head by a briefcase when the aircraft braked suddenly with some idiots standing in similar cuircumstances and me strapped in

It didn't seem quite so funny with an egg shaped lump and a headache.

The cabin crew should sit people down again (I have also seen an Air France CC member do this very assertively) and if necessary the aircraft should gently stop whilst it is sorted out.

Irresponsible, I'd say, if it is deliberate braking.

This is a known problem in the middel east and the airlines have a duty of care to keep all pax safe.

[reverserunlocked]

Well I'm sorry chaps but from where I was sitting it was pretty damn funny. As a regular to BEY it gets on my goat the number of people who leap out of their seat before the reversers have been stowed. The Skipper giving two hard jabs on the anchors sure made them sit down pronto, which put a smile on my face. There's no doubt he did it on purpose, we could hear the tyres screeching!

[strake]

Mmm...crew might not find it quite so funny as they are often moving around the J and F cabins dealing with coats etc.

[gdiphil]

Saw exactly the same thing last Tuesday evening on a Monarch A321 just after landing at Tenerife South. Several Russian speaking people got up and were shouted at by the nearest CC very loudly and assertively "Sit Down" several times. They did.
Saw the same thing last month on landing at Dallas, Fort Worth on a BA 777. A very loud sit down from the nearest CC, who when she was released immediately went over to the lady passenger and very calmly and reassuringly said everything was ok but she must remain seated until the sign is off etc. She even patted the lady's shoulder to continue to reassure her.
Very professionally handled in both cases.

[strake]

Imagine for a moment, that you, a "European traveller" are in Russia arriving into, say Moscow on an internal flight. You are in an aisle seat and suddenly become aware that as the aircraft approaches the gate, people are getting up all around you talking into their mobiles and your neighbour is glaring at you for not moving. You are horrified at the apparent danger, they are irritated by your tardiness. Neither side can understand the other because the experience of both in these circumstances has always been opposite.
Now take these same people, who after decades of being restricted to their country, are allowed to travel widely but still perhaps, irregularly compared to other people in Europe. "Western" airlines lay on flights but in the main, particularly on BA from personal experience, do not bother to have native speakers. So, the safety briefing is pre-recorded in Russian at the beginning but that's it.
You then get the confusion and anger reported by posters. In general, no one want to be an idiot on an aircraft but a bit of understanding and clear instructions in the language of one's customers might alleviate the problem.
This example is Russia but it could be India, parts of the Middle-East or Africa where, on one memorable occassion twenty-five years or so ago, I was required to follow four goats down the steps having been held back by other passengers until the goats had sauntered through the cabin. Funnily enough, I remember well the sign on the terminal building - "Welcome to Terminal 5".

[Northbeach]

During routine operations the most difficult parts of my job is:

1. Physically getting to the left front seat and getting the jet off the gate.
2. Getting the jet to the departure end of the runway.
3. After landing then getting the jet off the runway and to the arrival gate.

Ground operations are fraught with hazards; mostly it is chaotic conditions on the ramp. For passengers to stand up and open bins while the jet is in motion on the ground is a bad idea. It doesn’t matter what region of the world you are in or are from. However, like many unsafe practices, the guilty party doesn’t always receive the negative consequences for that behavior; so many people continue that behavior. There may come a day when the flight crew has to come to an emergency stop. Should that day come there may be many injuries.

Personally I would not intentionally jam on the brakes to make my point and get passengers to sit down.

When passengers stand up while the jet is in motion on the ground, that action is a violation of our local aeronautical regulations as well as company procedures. If there happens to be a representative of that governmental entity tasked with enforcing aeronautical regulations on board the jet, they are within their rights to issue a violation to the cabin and flight crew for having passengers up while the seat belt sign is on. In a worst case scenario this could result in me being fined several months worth of pay (up to six months) and having my professional record reflect the regulatory non-compliance. Violations of this sort are a fairly frequent occurrence in this industry. How would your family, or you if you are single, fare without a paycheck for six months?

While the jet is moving on the ground the seat belt sign will be on, passengers need to remain seated with their seat belts fastened. This is for their safety. If passengers choose to stand up, while the jet is in motion, those passengers jeopardize their own safety and put the crew in a precarious position. Now the entire crew can be disciplined by both the airline management as well as the government [in the United States by the FAA] for the “violation” of safety regulations.

Respectfully

[Evening Star]

Second what strake is saying about Russian passengers and the potential scrum the second the flight has left the runway. Another good reason why I have a preference for the window seat. That said, have previously reported on this forum how the KLM purser on one flight into SVO very forthrightly dealt with this situation. She spoke in English, but the tone in her voice was truly international and it worked superbly.

[Final 3 Greens]

Northbeach

Surely there must be a defence against a violation, when pax ignore a lawful instruction from the commander?

e.g., if you are in turb and have instructed the crew to sit down and strap in, then a pax decides to go to the lav.

There is little the CC can do, other than PA and say 'sit down', surely it is the pax who should face action, not the crew/commander.

In the OPs scenario, although the CC may have been released, there is again little they can do other than PA and approach the 'scrum', it is impossible to seat 20-30 pax, even if one manhandles the first few, which in Europe would constitute a crime (felony.)

If the FAA enforce action under these circumstances, I am astonished that the union does not appeal all the way up.