Boy, 11, boards plane at MAN with no passport or ticket.
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Not in that scenario, as far I am aware. But to teach him a lesson, after all it is theft, I would have offloaded him at Rome and passed any charges levied against Jet2 to his mother. For every action there is a consequence. Something my parents taught me at a young age.
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I agree with you.
Unless some kind of punishment is given to the boy then I wonder how long it will be before some copycat thinks it's the best idea ever to try something like this.
I would expect the mother to pay for at least some of the costs involved, but lets face it, the press will take her side and no doubt Jet2 will be made to look like an evil airline if they even attempt to take action against the boy or his careless mother.
Unless some kind of punishment is given to the boy then I wonder how long it will be before some copycat thinks it's the best idea ever to try something like this.
I would expect the mother to pay for at least some of the costs involved, but lets face it, the press will take her side and no doubt Jet2 will be made to look like an evil airline if they even attempt to take action against the boy or his careless mother.
If you unload him, and the immigration won't let him through and it ends up as nobody's responsibility, I suspect the authorities here might have something to say to you about neglect. Although you didn't intentionally do so, as captain, you became 'in loco parentis', and thus could be held personally responsible for anything that happened to the child.
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Radeng, if he comes off the plane, which was his intention in the first place, the local immigration authorities would have to accept him. They would of course have to technically refuse him entry on the grounds he could not satisfactorily provide evidence of his identity and nationality. The British Embassy consular section would then become involved given that he is almost certainly a British national, especially where there is a minor, so the captain would be absolved of his responsibility. But this all costs money and more disconcertingly, the Consular staff would have to provide assistance when there could be other British nationals in a greater need of the assistance of the embassy.
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Eleven year old shopping with mother. Bored. "Fed up with this. Let's go to Rome," he thinks. "Now, how do I get there? Oh yes. Number xxx to the airport, and then Jet2 from Terminal One. I really want to lie on the floor of the Sistine Chapel and look up at the ceiling."
He waits for his opportunity. Mother is distracted by the exciting contents of the freezers.
"Now's my chance," he decides.
Boy boards bus. Boy gets off bus at airport bus station. Boy walks or takes bus from airport bus station to terminal one. Boy walks straight through departures to security checks, somehow evading boarding pass examination at entrance to security area. He takes off his belt and shoes, puts them in the tray, goes through the arch, collects them, and makes his way to the departure area.
He checks the board, goes to the appointed gate, and gets on the plane, somehow avoiding the boarding pass and passport check. Jet 2 has allocated seating, but somehow he sits in a seat which has not been purchased online or allocated at check-in.
Come on folks. Waken up and smell the coffee. This was a put up job. There was a huge spread in the Sun the next day. He may have slipped through but it was made easy for him. I'll bet a pound to a dirty penny there was some kind of journalist on the flight keeping an eye on him. I'll also bet money has changed hands in the matter.
He waits for his opportunity. Mother is distracted by the exciting contents of the freezers.
"Now's my chance," he decides.
Boy boards bus. Boy gets off bus at airport bus station. Boy walks or takes bus from airport bus station to terminal one. Boy walks straight through departures to security checks, somehow evading boarding pass examination at entrance to security area. He takes off his belt and shoes, puts them in the tray, goes through the arch, collects them, and makes his way to the departure area.
He checks the board, goes to the appointed gate, and gets on the plane, somehow avoiding the boarding pass and passport check. Jet 2 has allocated seating, but somehow he sits in a seat which has not been purchased online or allocated at check-in.
Come on folks. Waken up and smell the coffee. This was a put up job. There was a huge spread in the Sun the next day. He may have slipped through but it was made easy for him. I'll bet a pound to a dirty penny there was some kind of journalist on the flight keeping an eye on him. I'll also bet money has changed hands in the matter.
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Would not be surprised. Only the other day the BBC managed to get a British reporter through Shoreham without showing his passport on a return trip to Calais, then it was all over the local news. Major security lapse etc etc http://www.pprune.org/private-flying...eham-egka.html
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There are just too many aspects of the story that don't add up. I didn't realise he claimed to have sat in the toilet during take-off. This is impossible. The door is opened, the toilet checked and the door locked before the take off roll begins. Boarding passes are checked before passengers enter the security screening area. How did he get round that? I fly often from MAN Terminal 3 and I assume the same system operates in Terminal 1. As I said in a previous post, Jet2 pre-assigns seating, unlike easyJet and Ryanair. He just couldn't get on and sit in a free seat, confident it hadn't been pre-assigned to someone else.
I don't buy this story.
I don't buy this story.
It's a bit of a leap from the kid fibbing about where he sat during takeoff, to a full-blown conspiracy theory involving the press. After being found out, the little toerag is going to say anything that he hopes will minimise the trouble he's in.
No he couldn't be sure, but depending on how many pax were on the flight (do we know?), his chances of picking an unassigned seat might well have been better than odds-on, and of course the later he boarded, the greater the chance that any unoccupied seats would remain so.
I may be proven wrong, but I don't buy active cooperation of any third party.
As I said in a previous post, Jet2 pre-assigns seating, unlike easyJet and Ryanair. He just couldn't get on and sit in a free seat, confident it hadn't been pre-assigned to someone else.
I may be proven wrong, but I don't buy active cooperation of any third party.
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I'll bet a pound to a dirty penny there was some kind of journalist on the flight keeping an eye on him. I'll also bet money has changed hands in the matter.
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Sorry but I don't buy this conspiracy theory. If journalistic mischief was involved, there would have to be a return on their cash investment in the form of an exclusive headline 'scoop' whereas the story was actually first revealed by the BBC News.
The BBC obtains the first editions of the next morning's papers. They do a preview on Newsnight. This actually works in the favour of newspapers because it provides a taster for the paper buying public. Therefore, if the story is interesting enough people will look out for it at their local shops the next morning. A good story publicised the evening before, when it's too late for rival papers to do anything about it, will guarantee increased sales the following day. This boy's adventure was the front page story in The Sun which was lying on the doormat of our neighbour's apartment as I left on the way to work. That was when it suddenly struck me there was something just a little far fetched about the whole thing. I'm a journalist, albeit a redundant one at present, with a 30 year newspaper career behind me. I worked with someone who gave up working for the tabloids because of the methods they employed to generate news. Believe me, this is exactly the type of activity they engage in to get a story.
The BBC obtains the first editions of the next morning's papers. They do a preview on Newsnight. This actually works in the favour of newspapers because it provides a taster for the paper buying public. Therefore, if the story is interesting enough people will look out for it at their local shops the next morning. A good story publicised the evening before, when it's too late for rival papers to do anything about it, will guarantee increased sales the following day. This boy's adventure was the front page story in The Sun which was lying on the doormat of our neighbour's apartment as I left on the way to work. That was when it suddenly struck me there was something just a little far fetched about the whole thing. I'm a journalist, albeit a redundant one at present, with a 30 year newspaper career behind me. I worked with someone who gave up working for the tabloids because of the methods they employed to generate news. Believe me, this is exactly the type of activity they engage in to get a story.
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My goodness what a lot of hot air there is blowing around this story... so many asking questions … how did he do this …how did he do that … it shouldn’thave happened … well it did and now there is a need for those involved to pickup the pieces.
To suggest there was anything predetermined or orchestrated about this story is in my humble opinion ridiculous. To suggest that a kid of 11 years old really thought it through and understood the implications of what he was doing is also ridiculous.
On the day he got lucky, circumstances conspired to allow this to happen … with luck like his he should have been choosing lottery numbers for his mum last week (lottery is about 14 million to 1 that probably isn't far out with stats around this incident)
Yes there have been some embarrassing failures; this has brought the spotlight on some elements of procedure which need to be reviewed. But with the whole process relying so much on the performance of many individuals then it is hardly surprising that on occasion mistakes are made and something goes wrong. On this ocassion several failures lined up ... that's what happens sometimes.
As a business pax flying out of MAN I’ve witnessed some absolutely crap behaviour by gate staff and cabin staff; the truth is that could happen anywhere, it is not location specific, it is down to how the industry works … low cost … tight turnarounds et al … it’s an incident waiting to happen … and here it did happen
And you know what ... when it does happen it has probably already been allowed for by a very low probability score on a risk assessment somewhere ...
To suggest there was anything predetermined or orchestrated about this story is in my humble opinion ridiculous. To suggest that a kid of 11 years old really thought it through and understood the implications of what he was doing is also ridiculous.
On the day he got lucky, circumstances conspired to allow this to happen … with luck like his he should have been choosing lottery numbers for his mum last week (lottery is about 14 million to 1 that probably isn't far out with stats around this incident)
Yes there have been some embarrassing failures; this has brought the spotlight on some elements of procedure which need to be reviewed. But with the whole process relying so much on the performance of many individuals then it is hardly surprising that on occasion mistakes are made and something goes wrong. On this ocassion several failures lined up ... that's what happens sometimes.
As a business pax flying out of MAN I’ve witnessed some absolutely crap behaviour by gate staff and cabin staff; the truth is that could happen anywhere, it is not location specific, it is down to how the industry works … low cost … tight turnarounds et al … it’s an incident waiting to happen … and here it did happen
And you know what ... when it does happen it has probably already been allowed for by a very low probability score on a risk assessment somewhere ...
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To suggest there was anything predetermined or orchestrated about this story is in my humble opinion ridiculous.
This an opinion you are fully entitled to hold, but I would be interested to know what you base it upon. Why is it ridiculous to suggest there was anything predetermined or orchestrated about the incident?
This an opinion you are fully entitled to hold, but I would be interested to know what you base it upon. Why is it ridiculous to suggest there was anything predetermined or orchestrated about the incident?
If it was a put-up job then it would have required not only a journalist minder but the active cooperation of a number of airport and airline staff. I assume that's what your " I'll also bet money has changed hands" remark was intended to imply.
Presumably in that case the size of the alleged bribe would have been sufficient to compensate the individuals concerned for the likely loss of their jobs in the ensuing investigation.
Happily, I don't share your low opinion of human nature. Clearly some of the individuals involved were less than assiduous in the performance of their duties, but that's a far cry from accusing them of being corrupt.
Presumably in that case the size of the alleged bribe would have been sufficient to compensate the individuals concerned for the likely loss of their jobs in the ensuing investigation.
Happily, I don't share your low opinion of human nature. Clearly some of the individuals involved were less than assiduous in the performance of their duties, but that's a far cry from accusing them of being corrupt.
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To suggest there was anything predetermined or orchestrated about this story is in my humble opinion ridiculous.
This an opinion you are fully entitled to hold, but I would be interested to know what you base it upon. Why is it ridiculous to suggest there was anything predetermined or orchestrated about the incident?
This an opinion you are fully entitled to hold, but I would be interested to know what you base it upon. Why is it ridiculous to suggest there was anything predetermined or orchestrated about the incident?
This is an unfortunate coincidence of several human failures happening at the same time in the same place. In any system that involves people this always a possibility.
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Not in that scenario, as far I am aware. But to teach him a lesson, after all it is theft, I would have offloaded him at Rome and passed any charges levied against Jet2 to his mother. For every action there is a consequence. Something my parents taught me at a young age.
For every action there is indeed a consequence. I would imagine there would be consequences for Jet2 of some kind if they off loaded a child of 11 suffering from learning difficulties in Rome and left him there. Yes, the child in question suffers from learning difficulties. His quotes are quite childish, even for an 11 year old. However, I digress, as I want to make it clear that my comments about money changing hands did not refer to airport or airline officials. The media cannot name minors or publish photographs of them without the permission of their parents, a person acting in loco parentis, or a court of law. Despite the fact her son is just 11, and suffers from learning difficulties, the boy's mother was quite happy for him to describe his experience, and for his photograph to be splashed across both the paper and its website. I wonder why?
The more I hear about this, the more I suspect this was a deliberately generated story. You don't just wander in to terminal one from Manchester Airport's bus station. You have to take a lift or escalator up to the level of the glass walkway, and then walk some distance or ride on the travelator, before going down a level to enter the terminal.
After miraculously passing through security without being detected, the boy claims to have wandered down the airbridge in search of a toilet. The one he found just happened to be on a Jet2 737. Somehow, he got stuck in it and "whoosh" he was up in the air. Oh come on. There has to be more to this.
For every action there is indeed a consequence. I would imagine there would be consequences for Jet2 of some kind if they off loaded a child of 11 suffering from learning difficulties in Rome and left him there. Yes, the child in question suffers from learning difficulties. His quotes are quite childish, even for an 11 year old. However, I digress, as I want to make it clear that my comments about money changing hands did not refer to airport or airline officials. The media cannot name minors or publish photographs of them without the permission of their parents, a person acting in loco parentis, or a court of law. Despite the fact her son is just 11, and suffers from learning difficulties, the boy's mother was quite happy for him to describe his experience, and for his photograph to be splashed across both the paper and its website. I wonder why?
The more I hear about this, the more I suspect this was a deliberately generated story. You don't just wander in to terminal one from Manchester Airport's bus station. You have to take a lift or escalator up to the level of the glass walkway, and then walk some distance or ride on the travelator, before going down a level to enter the terminal.
After miraculously passing through security without being detected, the boy claims to have wandered down the airbridge in search of a toilet. The one he found just happened to be on a Jet2 737. Somehow, he got stuck in it and "whoosh" he was up in the air. Oh come on. There has to be more to this.
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I would imagine there would be consequences for Jet2 of some kind if they off loaded a child of 11 suffering from learning difficulties in Rome and left him there. Yes, the child in question suffers from learning difficulties.
1) the crew were not to know that the child had learning difficulties. He clearly had the wherewithall to get onto an international flight without any documentation whatsoever
2) once handed over to the Italian authorities, the British Embassy would then have to look after the child's welfare, including his repatriation. After all, he was seeking adventure so why not add to it by handing him over to the Italians
3) what if the flight was full for the return to Manchester? Should the company offload a fare-paying passenger for the sake of an attention seeker?
Despite the fact her son is just 11, and suffers from learning difficulties, the boy's mother was quite happy for him to describe his experience, and for his photograph to be splashed across both the paper and its website. I wonder why?
If it was a put-up job, would it be splashed all over the sponsoring newspaper ? Yes, of course.
If it's splashed all over a newspaper, does that mean they sponsored the escapade ? No. They might have, but so far there's not a shred of evidence to support that theory.
All we can reasonably infer is that the mother was happy to go public and was probably paid well for her trouble.
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc ...
