You should have been on the aircraft I was supposed to operate on the other day then....brand new F/O.....smashed the damn thing onto the ground and as a consequence the aircraft had to be grounded because of an unforseen "heavy landing"....:ouch:

And have you ever seen the pictures of SkyService 767 (leased from MyTravel if I am not wrong) it "landed" in what we would call a normal situation and the aircraft has been written off!!!!! You never know what's going to happen. I fly day in and out and don't want to risk more than I have to! I never take things for granted. Also I had my first rejected take off about a month ago, wouldn't have liked to be standing around then, I promise you. The adrenalin was still in my system after hours.

Irrelevant to the discussion but just for your info, the skyservice 767 was not written off, it was repaired and returned to MyTravel. It's disappearance from Skyservice lead to some confusion.

Most of the posts here seem to have fallen into two main catagories; those that think we should lighten up and those that think we should err on the side of caution at every occurence.

There are some people that suffer from illnesses that do not allow them to wait if they find that they need to use the toilet and why should they notify us on boarding of what is most likely to be an embarassing complaint. There are more people than you might think suffering with these kind of ailments.

What I am trying to say is you need to tread carefully when dealing with pax that have transgressed any of our rules, there could be any number of reasons why. How would you feel if someone tore strips of you in another environment because you had "crossed a line" and you had not understood the real implications that usually takes some form of training to understand.

Each situation is different and requires to be treated as such, but with some reasonable SOP to follow we might get better at getting it right.

6

We locked the doors. It's much safer like this.
When I have a pax who wants to use the loo I just tell him that it's not safe."Please, take ur seat and wait until we land." If he doesn't listen me he won't get in anyway. He ll take his seat and wait.
does it make sens?!

This very thing happened to me too on a flight. A mother brought her child to the washroom, girl in tears needing to use the washroom soo badly. I was getting ready to take my seat, and I advised the mother that we are on the approach to the airport and it is unsafe to use the washroom at that time. She said the child would be quick, and i again advised her that it was a good idea to take her seat. The mother chose to ignore my recomendation and proceded to the washroom with her daughter. We were getting extremely close, so i knocked on the door and said through the door to stay in there, hold on tight and do not come out until i knock on the door again. We landed and after we got to the gate, I knocked on the door and the mother and daughter came out unharmed. She thanked me and apologized for putting the crew in an awkward situation. I just nodded and asked if they were ok. She said they were and deplaned.

I'm sorry, but what kind of training do you need to understand the fasten seatbelt sign?!!! It's very simple...pax must conform to all written and verbal commands and if you can't adhere to them then don't fly!!

At the end of the day, if i've told you to fasten your seatbelt and u don't do it, I as a "safety officer" have a duty to inform you of the implications of doing so.

And Lembrado I don't think you are crew to be honest, but if you are, you try telling someone quietly that what they're doing is wrong and see if they give a :mad: . It just goes in one ear and out of the other. And at the end of the day if we don't tell them how it is, they will just do it again and again....we need to prevent these incidents from happening!!

Right I'll get off my high horse now, but hey!!! I'm passionate about my job!!

xx

The reason I put the seatbelt sign on and expect people to be securely seated is because there are, will or may be conditions which require their use to ensure the safety of the passengers.

Flybywire - Your job is check to make sure that the cabin is secure. You did, and you also, I my opinion, correctly informed the flight deck that the "secure" status if the cabin had changed. The ball is now with the flight deck. Leave it there - you've done your job. They will then choose to hold, land or go-around, as appropriate and you will also probably be informed as to their decision and any of any other actions they require you to take . Leave it at that and I'd suggest that any "bollocking" comes from others (like your company or the court system).

Lembrado - An aircraft is not a democracy. If I say sit down and secure your seat belt, you do it. If you need to go to the toilet, you will either have to wait or soil your clothes. There is only one Captain on my flight and that is ME! If you choose not to obey my order, I will call the police, I will ask them press charges, I will attend court, my company will not accept further bookings from you. This is because you have not only endangered yourself but more importantly, the others around you by your action.

Piltdown Man - firm but true.

Lembrado - Piltdown Man's attitude shows he is focused on safety and supports the action of his cabin crew being vigilant re safety.

Its the captains decision, and in any case, any issue affecting the safety of the aircraft and any one of its occupants is his responsibility. He rightly so holds that attitude in my opinion.

Flybywire and Ozangel,
having read the thread, I think that you both (in your respective scenarios) did exactly the right thing. I am sure that your colleagues in the flight deck would have fully support your actions.
Piltdown Mans summary of overall responsibility is also absolutely correct.

FB:)