29 pax left behind in boarding gate stairwell.
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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?
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
As you can see there is a slope like stairwell with lots of windows
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
What does that achieve of interest to anyone apart from the airline revenue management team ?
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.
A "no fly list" is a USA concept. The rest of the world does not do this on domestic flights.
Last edited by WHBM; 10th Oct 2013 at 16:43.
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?
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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....
One suspects that they would argue it was down to the authorities in the destination country, but proving that could be another matter....
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Radeng,
That situation appears to qualify as a denied boarding in the sense of Regulation 261:
Breach of contract could be harder to argue, particularly if compensation has been paid however both Warsaw/Montreal Conventions envision claims for proven damages.
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;
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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?
