F/A Sues Airline for 'Scary Flight'
 

Air Canada employee files lawsuit over scary incident aboard flight | Vancouver Sun

Seriously. Right? It makes me wonder if any of them have a ******* clue? I can't believe her lawyer would run with this. ..

Geez this just boogles the mind. I would hope it gets laughed out of court.

It could have become a big problem. Swiss Air? Overheated entertainment system? Then there's this:
Accident: US Airways B762 near St. Thomas on Jan 16th 2010, odour on board, both flight crew received permanent injuries, captain later died

I was commenting on the shoot down threat refered to not the actual problem with the aircraft.

I have a friend who suffered from a bit of anxiety to begin with. Then he worked for many years as ground staff (cust. svc) for a US major. On a daily basis he heard about various incidents, accidents, "scary" reports from the airline & union (security / terrorism alerts), etc.

He was always full of stories about lap babies hitting the ceiling during turbulence, cabin crew getting clobbered by wayward trollies, various smoke / fire incidents, bird strikes, engine failures, alleged "dry runs" by middle-eastern persons, etc. By the time he left the airline he was a paranoid wreck about flying and it took him awhile to recover.

So I can see an F/A after 22 years of "seeing everything" thought her number was up that day, over something relatively benign. It happens -- a form of accumulated PTSD, a real mental illness. The "shoot down" comment fits into this developed paranoia.

Or alternatively, it's all just about $$$. Who knows?

So, if fighters are sent up in such a situation, what are they for? Most importantly, would they be armed? If the idea is simply to make sure the airliner doesn't get lost (overstressed crew, etc.) why not send a Citation or similar to keep an eye on it?

Because the f-18's are already a part of the emergency response system

Because there are F-18's and pilots already on alert and prepared to launch rapidly.

Because most Citations would bet left in the dust by most large jetliners.

Because F-18 pilots are trained and experienced in intercepting other aircraft.

Because F-18's are equipped with radar that enables intercepting other aircraft.

Because F-18 pilots are trained and experienced in flying formation.

Is that enough, or do you want me to continue?

They aren't.

/thread

I'm taking it with a big grain of salt, but if someone actually told her there may be a fighter escort, then that was quite irresponsible, IMO.

Not sure if telling her was irresponsible ? After all, she was a member of the crew.

NEO

Well there are workplace issues with all employees. Usually dealt with employee benefits, such as sick days or long term disability. I would guess if she is suing then she was denied long term disability.

Now for the comment from a colleague giving dubious information about inflight emergencies with military aircraft and shoot downs...that's a whole other discussion.

Are there F-18's on standby in Comox daily?

I thought when I retired the number of "scary flights" dropped to zero!

I bloody hope so! If not, why are we spending gazillions of $$$'s on them?

Twochai


18's are located at Cold Lake and Bagotville in Quebec. Comox is maritime patrol and Search and Rescue only.

The fighter escort would have probably have to come out of Whidbey or PDX as Canada is pretty thin on the west coast.
It's easier to find the survivors when an escort is able to mark the location of the ditching.

There are a couple of things that make we raise an eyebrow with this.

1. What pilot in their right mind would tell the flight attendant(s) they might be intercepted. I would only ever tell the cabin were such an event actually occurring.

2. Who was this "colleague" who told her the "intercept" could lead to a shoot-down event? Seems like a snowball effect from an over-the-top conversation. Possibly this was from someone junior.

3. "Zechel was a resident of B.C. until 2009 and moved to Manitoba where she began commuting to and from Vancouver International Airport for work, not being paid for her commute."

My formatting there.

Looks like the lawyer or the journalist is trying to add emotional support for Ms. Zechel. A lot of us commute, myself included. Deal with it. It's our choice to live away from base. You knew the conditions coming into the industry. I have zero sympathy for these types of people and group them with the same people who move near to an airport then complain about the noise. I hope this is just journalistic play at work.

4. “The decision has left a sizable percentage of the employer’s employees, who reside in provinces other than their primary place of employment, without recourse to workers’ compensation should their injury occur somewhere other than while working in or over the province.”

Correct me if I am wrong, but would applying for STD through the company not solve this problem? As we are federally regulated employees, I would think that provincial coverage would not cover us, so she should have used STD; correct or am I going down the wrong garden path?

I'm willing to bet that this is a case of very poor reporting on the actual nature of the lawsuit. It sounds like the F/A suffered both physical and psychological injuries from the incident but the Worker's Compensation Board (WorksafeBC) denied the claim due to a jurisdictional issue (as opposed to an actual denial of injuries).

The required next step for appealing a decision of the Worker's Compensation Board is a judicial review by the court.

While the event probably sounded more exciting to the journalist, they missed the entire point of the lawsuit - The the F/A claims the Worker's Compensation Board was wrong for denying her claim on a jurisdictional issue.

Briefly speaking, a worker is entitled to Worker's Compensation benefits if they are injured in the workplace (even if an employer is not negligent). So, if she was injured (both physically or psychologically) as a result of her job and/or an incident from her job. She is entitled to benefits. The determination of any injuries is made by medical professionals.

Just of note, although federally regulated, airline employees in Canada are covered under their provincial worker's compensation schemes.

For the record, I am a former lawyer and have represented both employees and employers at Worker's Compensation Tribunals.

Thanks JBI. I assume her employer pays premiums according to each employee's "base", regardless of whether they live in that province or not. It certainly wouldn't make sense for a Quebec based company to pay all of their WCB premiums in that province when such a small percentage of their employees are based (and work) in that province. If she was based in BC, then BC's apparent denial of benefits on the grounds of jurisdiction seems wrong to me.

Truthfully I can't remember the specifics as it's been a number of years now since I dealt with the matter. Usually there are agreements between jurisdictions so people don't fall through the cracks. Although more common in aviation, this matter comes up quite a bit in other industries such as construction as well.

Usually, yes, the initial claim should be to the province where the person works. Sometimes though, the two provincial boards don't communicate too well.

Again, I haven't read the whole decision, but it doesn't seem the validity of this FAs claims are really in question, more just a jurisdictional issue.

Just a comment...I am not an airline Capt.
If there was even a chance of an escort of CF-18s showing up I would certainly advise the cabin crew of the possibility and if an escort was actualy going to formate make a cabin announcement, using my best "This is your Capt. and the everything is under control" voice in order that folks would know what to expect and not panic if they ever stopped filming with their iphones long enough to look out a window. I would use the term "escort" instead of "Intercept".

Hogwash
 

There is no such thing as an escort of an airliner in an emergency.
There still is the odd wakeup call after Prolonged Loss Of Contact.Populare just after 9\11 .
Now , not so much.

The lady is unfit to fly and needs help. F18 to shoot her down, wow.!!

Wonder what the accident report says, IFE, Galley Pwr :off. should stop any system related fire.
Cpt B

I was using the term "escort" instead of "interception" as being less frightening to pax.
Excuse me for being unclear.

Escort vs Intercept
 

Albatros

No , You were quite clear.
Last time anyone escorted someone in Europe is some years ago when ,JR an F16
pilot boiled up the grand idea to fly wingman with his dad, Cpt 747.
SR was on his last leg inbound Amsterdam before retirement, nice gesture!

Close formation until T/D for SR, JR break of on full burner.!!
Pax and Tower mighty impressed.

KLM and Squadron Commander , not so much.
Forgot to ask them.
JR got fired and SR lost pension.
Sad.

Anyway, can anyone link the accident report.
Need to run ,my escort just arrived ,
Cpt B

This is a pathetic case. It appears she has wound herself up on false information. Worse, a lawyer also believes this rubbish and has bought the effect this has had on their client. An appropriate response would have been to have referred her to medical professionals to deal with her anxiety/panic/irrational behaviour. I hope she loses.

PM

Uhm, not exactly.

The mentioned F16 pilot aranged everything officialy with his commanders and was approved up to base level. The flight was thus tasked as such. ATC arranged the join up. His dad informed the passengers. The only negative side was that KLM was not informed or asked for approval. The media's reaction was positive.
Jr did not get fired!
Sr did not loose his pension.

I was his squadron mate and present at the time.

Sleeper
 

Good to hear, as it was a great gesture and how it should be.
Correct me , but KLM did make a big stink about it , did they not?
For my own record, when was this?

Did You go civilian later , and did you by any chance visit Hoofdorp for MCC?

Klm was furious, but as it was the dear captains last landing before retirement and the pensionfund is completely seperate from the company, they couldn't really do anything to sanction him.

As for junior. A former squadroncommander of us, then in a general staff job in The Hague, read about it in the morning paper while on the commute. The vindictive person he was (and not well liked by us sq pilots to put it mildly) he did not check, but immediately phoned the base commander to get juniors head on a platter. As it was none of his business and truly authorized he was blown off.

We both went civilian as most fellow sq members. And both in seniors company, so no harm done.
Mcc was done in house.

This all happened in mid 80ts.

RAF Typhoon jets escort Pakistan plane to Stansted - BBC News
Today on Rumours and News. They call it an ESCORT. LOL
Cheers
Albatross

PS thanks for the update on the KLM story Sleeper

Albatross
 

Now , that was an intercept, due safety or whatever. Clear procedure and protocol .
An " escort" due to any tech. emergency as our friend the CA was going to court about ,does NOT happen.

Unless You are on your last leg in KLM inbound AMS.


Anyone, please keep us updated on the court case.

Regards Cpt B