How would you deal with this passenger?

[Say again s l o w l y]

I've just seen this video and wondered how CC could deal with this. It's abviously a person with mental health problem and/or on drugs.

Are they just a pain the backside, or would they be classified as a risk?

What training have you had to deal with this sort of passenger?

b5yWa-iVu00

[Two-Tone-Blue]

She/It's apparently an American.

I would guess US carriers are accustomed to this sort of behaviour.



]It would never have happened on BOAC, I'm sure!

[Qansett]

Yes...She was on Southwest Airlines - as I know their seats!

[silverware]

I guess i've seen far worse in my days as a commercial flight attendant...........
As long as a passenger does what you tell/ask them to do, i wouldn't consider them as a risk.
I would however keep a close eye on him/her and inform the rest of the crew.

[Basil]

How would you deal with this passenger?
Give her the name and address of someone I didn't like and tell her he's a real party animal :}

[retard_retard]

Hi all,
New to this forum since a couple of minutes.

This pax is not a safety risk. she stays in the seat and is not really loud. Although, the pax in seat A was probably happy when the flight was over. I mean, in the long run it would be stressful to sit next to this pax.
No offense to this pax as she can't help it as I take it she has an illness.

Aim for the sky!

[First.officer]

....maybe euthanasia ???!! :E

[Finnster]

hey its the mother in-law!

[odette]

It does seems like she's in her own world.. but as long as she remains in her seat and not create a ruckus, nothing much can be done other than thanking the lord for the high level of patience n tolerance from the pax sitting next to her :)

[IJM]

Maybe ask her to step outside for a moment?

[jetjockeyusa]

Just ignore her and hope the passenger next to her can tolerate her. Basically, hope for the best !

[pinkus]

I'll have what she's having!

[6chimes]

Staff travel and just glad to have got on?

6

[StoneColdCloggie]

Maybe ask her to step outside for a moment?

Perfect comment, thank you made my day

[SassyPilotsWife]

Looks like Tourets Syndrome. Perhaps maybe that is why no one did bother her. They knew she wasn't intentionally doing it. Yes I have had patients with this disease and people do mistake their involuntary actions as intentional especially when they are able to respond to questions right in the middle of these episodes. Unfortunately she was disrupting the other pax but with only a short video, we don't know how long it lasted and if in fact the crew did or did not move her.

[Wildpilot]

I had a passenger sat next to me like that the problem was he did not act strange until we were airbourne.

The other big big problem was We were in a six seat aircraft and as I was the pilot he had a set of flying controls in front of him. I told him do not touch but i was scared for the entire flight and I was ready to arm bar him in the face if he inter feared with the safety of the flight.

[ozangel]

Looks fine to me... If the issue was medical, i'd have preferred her/him? to be travelling with a carer - but she (at least in the video) was posing no safety threat to the aircraft or others around - so I would have just enjoyed her company (and the entertainment). As for the guy in 'A', i'd move him if I could, or perhaps 'forget' to charge him for that beer he didnt ask for.

To be honest, when you do 5 flights on the same route in a day, the crazy ones are the only thing that makes the day go faster. I would have been happy to have her on board.

If it were a longer flight and she kept going - i'd ask her to keep the noise down and try to be mindful of others space (the guy in 'A' and the aisle), but being a longer flight i'd take the opportunity to have a chat about anything (which in doing so may solve the problem).

[omiyage]

The only possible risk, as far as I can see, would be if she was seated in an emergency exit row. I wouldn't rely on her assistance in "the unlikely event of an emergency". It's hard to tell from the video if that's where she sat, but I can't remember the pitch being that good at WN :)

[joeflyguy]

But the question was how would you handle her.

And the simple answer I guess is in our airline it is not even mentioned in any form of training. Let the damn crew deal with it once she is on board, as then its not the ground staffs problem anymore.

To be fair the airlines are damned if they do, damned if they donr. Yet people with mental health issues pose a very real threat to the aircraft. I have personally experienced mentally unwell pax trying to open doors in-flight. And to those saying they are designed so that cant occur. Well yeah it can if some crazy b#@ch decides at 500 feet she needs to get off and runs at the door and grabs the handle trying to open it. No aircraft pressurisation = door will open. Not a good time for it to happen either. I had to sit on her for about 10 mins till other crew could come to my assistance.

[rmiller774]

Look for that on one of Southwest's crazy TV shows.

[etrang]

I have personally experienced mentally unwell pax trying to open doors in-flight.

That can't happen. You can't open the door of a large jet in flight even when the aircraft is unpressurised - the slip-stream will hold it closed. In any case if it is unpressurised and you are seated and obeying the "fasten seatbelt" sign there is no danger.

[bondim]

Although doors cannot be opened during flight, it could be quite upsetting for other pax to see that someone is trying to do that! And just who knows what else they might try if they are that seriously ill.

[ben turpin]

Aviation medicine training indicates checking causes not 'assuming' - it could have been that this person was merely exuberant (possible) - drunk (maybe) but why were they allowed to get that way & were there any indications when they boarded? Maybe they were on drugs (clever to have smuggled them on in view of security checks) - if possible it would be a good idea to check their hand baggage for 'medication' having discreetly taken them to one side to assess their attitude. If these checks proved negative then you could diagnose them as being a loony - close monitoring advised in case of more idiotic behaviour. There's always the old restraint kit if the nut starts really behaving badly. Best approach when I was flying was always to nip these situations in the bud before things turned ugly.

[Wildpilot]

Etrang,

Before I was a pilot I used to be an aircraft engineer, we had a passenger open the over wing exit on a 737-300 whilst in the climb out from Gatwick. So it can happen at certain periods in the flight.

[c2lass]

As a pax I have experienced being sat next to someone with learning difficulties on a flight from London to Aberdeen.

Hubby was in the window seat, me in the Centre and the young man with difficulties in the aisle seat.

As soon as we sat down I realised all was not right as he was talking to himself. Then when I heard/saw him keep repeating "oxygen masks" and pointing to where they appear from I became quite alarmed. Then he kept saying "crash" and would then point to the emergency exits. This was before we had even taken off.

I became quite unsettled as I am not the best of flyers. I really didn't know what to do and whether I should speak to CC and ask to be moved.

As we taxied for take off he became worse. He kept expelling wind from his mouth as well and kept saying "shouldn't have eaten all that" so I then thought he was going to be sick.

Then we were back to "crash crash" By now I was leaning on hubby with my ear pressed firmly on hubby's chest and my hand on my other ear so I couldnt hear what he was saying.

The saving grace (for me) came when drinks were served. He had a can of coke and then decided he needed the toilet. In trying to get out of his seat, he leaned back so hard there was an almighty crack and a scream from behind. Yes he broke his seat and showered the lady behind with hot coffee.

As a result he, along with the 3 pax behind us, all had to be moved because of the broken seat.

An awful situation though as in a way I felt sorry for him but he made me very very anxious and uncomfortable.

[TurningFinals]

Maybe ask her to step outside for a moment?


Haha. Harsh but funny! :D:D

[lola81]

yeah i thought so too!

[mary meagher]

At least she wasn't fat!

[Eddy]

I'd have stern words with her and tell her that her behaviour isn't acceptable. It's a shame if she has mental problems, but 100+ other passengers are involved here and one person shouldn't be allowed to make that many others feel uncomfortable. I know if I was the guy in the white shirt, I'd have been uneasy.

[STANDTO]

If I had been the guy in the window seat, I would have at the very least asked for our seats to be swapped. In an emergency, the last thing I would want is to have my exit impeded by somebody at best unpredictable and at worst totally obstructive.

for the same reason, I have always been wary of being hemmed in by obese passengers.

[Arthur Boy]

At a certain downunder carrier there was an ex amateur boxer who dealt with with one or two unruly pax that would not respond to reason. He was legendary for the "2 inch punch".
Nitey Nite...................

[Jump Complete]

Now Captain for small regional airline but used to work as careworker with people with mental heath / learning difficulities. Looked to me like it was that, or torettes, but yes, certainly potentially difficult situtation. I remember times when certain care-work collegues where unwilling to accept that the patients condition could cause high risk situations just because they thought they sould have the right to do something that everyone else can. Equal rights and not limiting people is one thing but it has to be realistic. My judgement in this situation, though, is that if the pax had been asked to calm down a little in the right way, she probably would have. Probably a job for a carer rather than the cabin crew who have no preperation or training for this and shouldn't really be put in this situation, but I guess thats the way it is...

[Red Wine]

Oh….Don’t be so harsh.

Even Cabin Crew have to dead head home sometime.

[IFLy4Free]

If you check out failblog.org on youtube you will see that there are several silly videos. I believe this was strictly a set up for filming and not an actual off-the-wall passenger. Will post it on another site and see what the Southwest flight attendants have to say!

So, dealing with a real passenger who behaved this way, I would move the passenger to the back..or move the window passenger to another seat.

To be honest, in the US I seriously doubt that this kind of passenger would be permitted to travel without an aide.

[Bengerman]

She looks like a BASSA rep. :}

[Winch-control]

She looks like a BASSA rep. http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/badteeth.gif
Beat me too it, I was going say BA CSD though, but BASSA rep takes it:ok:

[cart_elevator]

That can't happen. You can't open the door of a large jet in flight even when the aircraft is unpressurised - the slip-stream will hold it closed.

The 747-400 has a procedure for opening two main deck doors during flight to allow for smoke evacuation (thats why there are smoke evacuation door handle straps carried) This procedure is carriede out by cabin crew under the direction of the captain once the aircraft has depressurised at a safe altitude.

It also has a procedure for cabin crew to guard the upperdeck doors when the automatic door lock fails on gear up (as if they dont automatically lock the doors can be opened until aircraft is at altitude and fully pressurised).

What does stop the aircraft doors being opened once pressurised is that most large aircraft doors are 'plug' type doors. That means they are actually larger than the whole they fit into (this happens through door panels expanding the door size when closed (Airbus), or the doors having to come into the aircraft then push into the holes (Boeing). Air pressure differences stop these 'plugs' from being removed whilst the aircraft is pressurised.:ok:

[undersiege]

Behave's like some flight deck I know..........:E

[yotty]

So did the cameraman just happen to be there ?:hmm:

[mary meagher]

A while back, didn't some chap rob a bank and getaway by bailing out of an airliner over the Western US?

How did he get the door open, then? anybody know?

[JEM60]

Yep.
Out of an early 727 with a downward opening rear belly passenger loading stairs and door if I remember correctly.

[ally23x]

Hy!

I am new on this forum, I wish to be a Cabin Crew member, and while reading interesting articles on this forum, I found this.

Since I know that interviewers ask us to solve difficult situations, here is how I would proceed on this one.

I would kindly ask the lady if she feels all right. If she would need anything that I can help her, i would offer her. If this is not the case I would kindly ask her to respect the others passengers aboard, and be quiet, at the same time asking the guy by the windows if he want's to be moved (if there are places). If this would not be enough...I would try to talk to her, at a quiet level, distracting her attention, so that she would be talking with me instead of disturbing the other passangers. (can I do this? :8 )

It crossed my mind to ask her if she could share with us how she succeeds to be so joyfull :p

Please offer me a feedback :) I would be really thankful!

Alex