29 pax left behind in boarding gate stairwell.

[overthewing]

Easyjet has apologised after a flight from Malaga to Bristol took off while 29 of its passengers were stuck in a boarding gate stairwell.

The passengers were accidentally locked in when security doors leading to a walkway to the aircraft closed, trapping the 29 people who were queuing to board.

They managed to alert staff in a nearby perfume shop after banging on the doors.

After around 20 minutes, a cleaner managed to free the group, who there then seen by a rather embarrassed Easyjet rep.

Lucky there were 29 of them. It could have been a single passenger - say, someone slow-moving and elderly. Perhaps headcounts are a good idea after all?

Easyjet flight to Bristol leaves 29 passengers stuck in stairwell at Malaga Airport - AOL Travel UK (http://travel.aol.co.uk/2013/10/08/easyjet-flight-bristol-leaves-29-passengers-locked-stairwell-malaga-airport/)

[Lord Spandex Masher]

What difference would a headcount make?

[frontcheck]

The difference would be that your boarded through the gate figure would not match your total onboard. Simples :cool:

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Yep, so 29 pax missing, approaching STD, new load sheet please, load sheet now matches on board figure, bye bye, leave.

Result 29 pax still left behind.

[overthewing]

What difference would a headcount make?

Fairly obviously, it would have told the cc that there were 29 fewer pax on board than had had their boarding cards scanned at the gate, which would have been a serious discrepancy. The flight took off with a bunch of luggage whose owners were not on board - this shouldn't have been allowed, quite apart from the distress of the trapped passengers.

[Artie Fufkin]

LSM, no shows are those who don't present themselves at the gate, not on board the aircraft. These pax went through the gate, so there was a discrepancy between the load sheet and those on board. Not to mention the security issue of bags in the hold with no owners on board.

[Capetonian]

An easyJet spokeswoman.......... explained there was no mandatory requirement for the crew to do a visual head count of the passengers on board,


Really? etc.

[FlyVeryHigh-]

So an EasyJet aircraft, malaga - bristol, leaves after passengers have proceeded past their boarding gat towards the aircraft. Turns out they were stuck in the tunnel for 20 odd minutes, by which time the aircraft had left with their luggage on board. Wow.

Easyjet plane takes off leaving 29 passengers stranded at Spanish airport | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2449448/Easyjet-plane-takes-leaving-29-passengers-stranded-Spanish-airport.html?ICO=most_read_module)

[Capetonian]

So there would be no reconciliation between the boarding gate and the aircraft? I accept that the situation of passenger(s) being left in the jetway is unusual, but where boarding is by bus or walking across the apron, there are many opportunities for passengers to go AWOL or even get on the wrong aircraft.

Also, the crew usually more or less know the anticipated loading. On the standard 156 (26 x 6) seat EZY config for their smaller aircraft, 29 missing people is more than one empty seat per row, you'd think that would tbe noticed.

[ONE GREEN AND HOPING]

Technically, I suppose load sheet and unaccompanied baggage issues might need retrospective paper-work if PIC departed unaware of head-count mismatch. Sounds a bit far fetched, and if true, nobody managed to make a fuss in the time available between doors closed and take-off.

[DirectCF]

Spain... You said it all.

Since there is no headcount from the cabin crew anymore, I would imagine the despatcher is going to face some trouble...

[gcal]

Knock Spain if you will but I flew from Edinburgh to Gatwick just the other day and nobody checked my ID.
No check of any kind except the glance of the boarding pass as I embarked.

[TheExpatPilot]

Head count makes all the difference. At our airline it's mandatory. If someone's checked in with baggage and hasn't shown up on board we offload their baggage for security reasons. I don't want to depart with unaccompanied checked in baggage, you never know.

[DavidWoodward]

A few months ago I heard a Flybe Dash 8 being told that it could not depart at Manchester. Controller told him he'd just been passed a message by the company for it not to depart. He then told the pilots they had to return to stand as most of his passengers were still in the departure lounge... I'm guessing it was an airport/Flybe issue rather than late passengers as they made it return to stand even when it was at the hold!

[tdracer]

Earlier this year I was flying Jakarta-Singapore on Air Asia. Departure was held up about half an hour because we had one too many on board.

It was actually a little funny to watch - cabin crew would go through the cabin doing a head count, then go back to the front and make an announcement that this was flight XXX to Singapore, to make sure Singapore was your destination. This happened several times. Finally they went through checking everyone's boarding pass - found a lady that had gotten on the wrong airplane:=

[pg wing tips]

I see the new policy of no headcount is working out well. Just keep that OTP going....:}

[Mr A Tis]

That's one of the problems with easyJet they stuff their pax in corridors, jetways & stairwells. This is just so that they can say "boarded on time" & closed the gate on time....even if the aircraft hasn't even landed.
This is what can happened- the pax were basically abandoned.
This is the reason I only fly EZY when there is no alternative.
In the past I've stood in a stairwell for 25 minutes at Malaga, nowhere to sit, no toilets & then shoved on a bus making the speedyboarding useless. Never again !!

It should be of great concern that the aircraft departed, presumably with unaccompanied bags.

I prefer to fly with an airline that only boards when the aircraft is there AND the cabin is ready to receive passengers, this way it is rather less likely that passengers will be "lost".

[nonemmet]

Far more serious than the unaccompanied baggage is the possibility that with this number of passengers missing - 2.5Tonnes worth, the aircraft could have departed while seriously out of trim. It didn't crash so luckily it wasn't. Safety is the airlines number one priority.

[Shack37]

Spain... You said it all.
Since there is no headcount from the cabin
crew anymore, I would imagine the despatcher is going to face some trouble...


Strange you should say that......I flew Bilbao - Lanzarote - Bilbao returning 5 days ago and we had a headcount both ways....with a Spanish airline.

[PAXboy]

Apology: EasyJet apologises after leaving 29 passengers at gate - Europe - World - The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/easyjet-apologises-after-leaving-29-passengers-at-gate-8866717.html)

[Herc708]

Risk is being trapped if there is a fire. Got stuck in major UK airport between pax entrance at top of stairs and apron exit. Didn't have appropriate airport pass so was stuck for 10 mins and not happy!

[edi_local]

There isn't a fire risk. The doors all have emergency releases (big green buttons marked emergency release) next to them which disable the magnet. Also, they will usually disable automatically allowing them to be opened in an emergency.

Also, failing all that they can be forced open by using not too hard a pull/push. I've seen it happen before. I saw an irate passenger who missed a flights pull open doors at one UK airport and try to walk down the jetty. Staff stopped him after about 2 footsteps, and I'm not sure exactly what he was trying to achieve anyway, but the fact remains these doors are not 100% secure, so there isn't any risk to life of being stuck behind them.

Not saying that what happened was good, but there was no risk of death involved.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

LSM, no shows are those who don't present themselves at the gate, not on board the aircraft. These pax went through the gate, so there was a discrepancy between the load sheet and those on board. Not to mention the security issue of bags in the hold with no owners on board.

Even if I had spotted that they'd departed avec unaccompanied bags (:=) and despite the egg sucking lesson...get me a new load sheet and then.....ciao.

What difference would a headcount make?

[rottenray]

Far more serious than the unaccompanied baggage is the possibility that with this number of passengers missing - 2.5Tonnes worth, the aircraft could have departed while seriously out of trim. It didn't crash so luckily it wasn't. Safety is the airlines number one priority.

$$MONEY$$

fixed it for ya...

[hotmail]

@edi
Being trapped is a huge fire risk. Emergency systems do not allways work as designed espescially when smoke and panic is involved.

Train passengers trying to escape fire! - YouTube

[ExXB]

Can't see an issue with leaving with non-boarded passengers' luggage on board. The passengers would have had no way of knowing they would not be on board.

Baggage OFTEN travels alone, but almost impossible for punter to know this in advance and/or which flight/aircraft it is on.

[WHBM]

Knock Spain if you will but I flew from Edinburgh to Gatwick just the other day and nobody checked my ID.
No check of any kind except the glance of the boarding pass as I embarked.
ID check (which achieves nothing, by the way) is not required on UK domestic flights, and several operators, not least BA, do not do it.

[overthewing]

Can't see an issue with leaving with non-boarded passengers' luggage on board. The passengers would have had no way of knowing they would not be on board.

In this case, the pax were trapped accidentally. But a person who'd stuck a bomb in their luggage might also 'escape' between gate and plane. How would the crew know the difference?

[MKY661]

Well I've just looked on Flightstats and it turns out it was the exact same airbridge which did this a few years ago:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2686446479_825e68329e.jpg

Maybe that was what caused the issue at the boarding gate? Just a suggestion :)

[jackieofalltrades]

I'm not familiar with Malaga airport, but I presume the passengers were boarding via an airbridge? If so, what happened to the member of staff that backed the airbridge away from the plane so that it could push-back? Surely they would have walked back up the tunnel to the gate and seen 29 passengers standing there? Wouldn't they have notified someone to make sure the plane didn't take off?

[DaveReidUK]

I'm not familiar with Malaga airport, but I presume the passengers were boarding via an airbridge?

Judging from the media reports, no.

[MKY661]

I'm not familiar with Malaga airport, but I presume the passengers were boarding via an airbridge? If so, what happened to the member of staff that backed the airbridge away from the plane so that it could push-back? Surely they would have walked back up the tunnel to the gate and seen 29 passengers standing there? Wouldn't they have notified someone to make sure the plane didn't take off?

Yeah they were boarding via Airbridge at Gate B12 (sometimes it's gate B13 as gates B12 and B13 are just two boarding card checkers right next to each other but both can be used at one as the other passengers get bussed) The airbridges however at Piers B and C are not see-through so they are harder to notice (Gate C31 and Pier D are).

Was there a chance maybe that they were waiting between the airbridge and the Gate as Malaga has a section where you have to go down the slope before you get to the actual airbridge.

Here in this video it shows the point once you have shown your passport & boarding card. This is Gate B17 which is two gates to the right of Saturday Night's Incident (I've never left from B before but I have arrived there and all the gates In Piers B and C are similar and do this):

Boarding Aer Lingus at Málaga Airport - YouTube

[MKY661]

Judging from the media reports, no.

It seems that they were boarding from an airbridge. Click on this link and the white line shows that the aircraft was parked right next to the terminal building on an airbridge stand.

Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker! (http://www.flightradar24.com/2013-10-05/19:19/12x/EZY6056)

They would have used the airbridge as I have never seen an aircraft board via steps on these stands. Believe it or not even Ryanair 95% of the time always use them. (Which I wonder why they were complaining about using them at Alicante but not Malaga).

[SloppyJoe]

The offloading of baggage if the passenger does not show up is a bit out dated. Does everything not get screened? Do people now happily blow themselves up with everyone else? Personally I think it is a waste of time looking for and offloading bags.

[ExXB]

Sloppy Joe,
If someone checks in a bag and then doesn't show up the gate, or for a connecting flight must be viewed as suspicious. That is exactly what happened with AI182 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_182), and the explosion at NRT an hour later of a bag checked through to AI301 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Narita_International_Airport_bombing), in 1985.

This case is not the same thing.

[DaveReidUK]

It seems that they were boarding from an airbridge.OK, I stand corrected.

Out of interest, could somebody who is familiar with Malaga Airport explain the references to the passengers being "stuck in a boarding gate stairwell", and the quote from one of them in the DM "I looked through the doors onto the airport apron and the plane had gone".

I'd have thought that, once on the departures level of the terminal, boarding the aircraft via an airbridge wouldn't have involved going down (or up) any stairs ?

Just curious.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Unless they went halfway down the air bridge then down the steps and out the door. Usually happens when the air bridge is u/s.

[DaveReidUK]

Unless they went halfway down the air bridge then down the steps and out the door. Usually happens when the air bridge is u/s.Looking at shots of AGP, and the video in post #33, the airbridges have the usual escape stairs right at the end, just before you turn left to board the aircraft.

Clearly that's not the stairway being referred to in the reports - 29 passengers standing on those steps would be bl**dy obvious to everybody (and would have been free to descend to the apron, causing chaos and confusion all around).

[MKY661]

Out of interest, could somebody who is familiar with Malaga Airport explain the references to the passengers being "stuck in a boarding gate stairwell", and the quote from one of them in the DM "I looked through the doors onto the airport apron and the plane had gone".

I'd have thought that, once on the departures level of the terminal, boarding the aircraft via an airbridge wouldn't have involved going down (or up) any stairs ?


Watch the Boarding Aer Lingus video. As you can see there is a slope like stairwell with lots of windows where you can see the aircraft and airbridge. :)

This happens in a few airports where boarding happens via both the airbridge and steps at the rear of the aircraft. Not sure if that also happens in AGP.

Not at Malaga. Everyone boards via Airbridge :ok:

[overthewing]

I'm puzzled by the mention of the 'perfume shop', that was presumably close enough to the stairwell that the trapped passengers could attract their attention. Do you get duty-free shops right next to the gate in Malaga?

[MKY661]

I'm puzzled by the mention of the 'perfume shop', that was presumably close enough to the stairwell that the trapped passengers could attract their attention. Do you get duty-free shops right next to the gate in Malaga?

There are duty free shops in Pier B and C yes. This is because you must show your passport to get in there and once you have gone through you cannot return to the main airside area, you must stay in the pier :)

By the way this might be useful for some of you who don't know the airport well :):
Airport at Málaga-Costa del Sol - Outside :: Cartography - AenaAeropuertos.es (http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite?Language=EN_GB&ca=AGP&pagename=cartografia&ps=e&utm_source=Web%2BAeropuerto&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=AGP-Banner%2BCartograf%C3%AF%C2%BF%C2%BDa)

[DaveReidUK]

As you can see there is a slope like stairwell with lots of windowsSorry, that doesn't compute.

Firstly, as you say, it's a gentle slope (i.e. ramp), not a stairwell ("a shaft in a building in which a staircase is built").

Secondly, there's no way pax could have been trapped there ("We were banging on the doors for about 10 minutes trying to raise the alarm. It was a bit freaky being locked in there - especially for the people with young children"). They could simply have proceeded down the ramp to the end of the now-vacated airbridge and attracted attention, if necessary by triggering the alarm on the escape stairs.

So wherever the passengers were stuck, it wasn't there.

[radeng]

Is this event likely to interest the AAIB? Prima facie, there could be safety problems involved in an accident if there were supposedly more people on board than actually the case.

[DaveReidUK]

Is this event likely to interest the AAIB? Prima facie, there could be safety problems involved in an accident if there were supposedly more people on board than actually the case.Good question. I suspect that the AAIB will only have a passing interest, if any, in the incident.

Yes, I suppose you could argue, with EasyJet now doing seat allocation, that they might conceivably have boarded by seat row (though I don't think they do) such that the last 29 pax who were left behind all had seats in the first 5 rows.

In that very unlikely event there might have been trim issues. On the other hand, if that had happened then even the doziest of cabin crew would probably have wondered why a nearly full aircraft had 5 completely empty seat rows. :O

[fa2fi]

It's tricky when looking at the cabin. Many times when I was crew I'd look and think 'surely that is everyone now'. Only to hear the squeaking of a bus pulling up and a good few pax would board. It's easy if you're expecting a full house but 29 equates to just over one per row missing. I can see how it would not look strange to the CC.

[flyin_phil]

A lot of people and media are overlooking the fact that the fault is with the ground handling partners not easyjet, they are one of the best out there

[ExXB]

they are one of the best out there

Well, perhaps, but not in choosing ground handling agents or maintaining oversight.

[WHBM]

A lot of people and media are overlooking the fact that the fault is with the ground handling partners not easyjet, they are one of the best out there
That's a complete cop-out, it's the airline which is responsible for all aspects of the flight, including ensuring that whichever handling agent they select does their job.

[Davef68]

ID check (which achieves nothing, by the way) is not required on UK domestic flights, and several operators, not least BA, do not do it.


Reconciles person travelling with name on booking/boaridng card (To prevent in airport switches)

[WHBM]

Reconciles person travelling with name on booking/boaridng card (To prevent in airport switches)
What does that achieve of interest to anyone apart from the airline revenue management team ?

Smith makes booking, even checks in. Jones takes boarding card and travels. It's a domestic flight so no issue about immigration. Jones goes through all the security checks to get airside.

I accept that if Smith buys 100 tickets at a cheap price 3 months ago, and then sells them at a walk-up price outside the terminal on the day, it's a concern to revenue management. But there's no security issue at all.

[DaveReidUK]

What does that achieve of interest to anyone apart from the airline revenue management team ?A cynic might suspect that the reason the LCCs take such an interest is that it represents an opportunity to sting you for a fee to change the booking details if they don't match exactly what's on your ID ...

[EEngr]

I accept that if Smith buys 100 tickets at a cheap price 3 months ago, and then sells them at a walk-up price outside the terminal on the day, it's a concern to revenue management. But there's no security issue at all.Except for when this becomes a common practice and people on no-fly lists take advantage of this loophole to acquire passes and board aircraft.

[WHBM]

Except for when this becomes a common practice and people on no-fly lists take advantage of this loophole to acquire passes and board aircraft.
A "no fly list" is a USA concept. The rest of the world does not do this on domestic flights.

[radeng]

Didn't I read somewhere that a TSA (or was it FBI?) official had the same name as someone on a 'no-fly' list and was denied boarding as a result?

[ExXB]

A "no fly list" is a USA concept. The rest of the world does not do this on domestic flights.

Airlines have their own "we don't want this ***** on our aeroplanes" list.

[radeng]

But if xyz airlines accepts a booking from Mr ABC, is given a passport number and all the rest of the info and THEN decides when he arrives at check in or (worse) the boarding gate that they refuse to take him, will they not be liable for breach of contract, insofar as they had plenty of warning to inform him and refund his money in full?

One suspects that they would argue it was down to the authorities in the destination country, but proving that could be another matter....

[ExXB]

Radeng,
That situation appears to qualify as a denied boarding in the sense of Regulation 261:

(j) "denied boarding" means a refusal to carry passengers on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding under the conditions laid down in Article 3(2), except where there are reasonable grounds to deny them boarding, such as reasons of health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documentation;

Breach of contract could be harder to argue, particularly if compensation has been paid however both Warsaw/Montreal Conventions envision claims for proven damages.

[MKY661]

Flew from Malaga yesterday. First time doing it with EasyJet and for some reason (Probably because of the quick turnaround times) they make you wait for ages on the slope. I usually fly Monarch from Malaga and with them you just go straight down. Maybe a suggestion how the passengers got left behind?