question to airline pilots
 

I recently went on holiday to Italy from stanstead and 15 minutes after takeoff the captain announced we had to return due to having the wrong baggage. So we returned and a Muslim guy that didn't speak much English was taken off the aircraft - saying he was on the wrong flight. No baggage was removed from the hold. I was wondering if this was a standard procedure. I would have thought it cheaper for the airline to continue the flight and send the guy back on the next one instead of the thousands? it would have cost to return, refuel, delay the days operations. Is it possible to take the wrong person? Surely the captain would have known that it wasn't the wrong baggage so why tell everyone that? The date was sept 11th and there was alot of speculation amongst the passenger on the flight - made worse by what the captain said.
I'm sure it was all very innocent but was wondering what the procedures are for this sort of thing?

Thanks

First of all, how do you know it was a Muslim.
Think about problems which may arise if a person has no rights to enter the country the aeroplane proceeds to...in this case he/she may have to be returned and a lot of trouble may start.
Better to keep the person where he/she needs to be..

I think the Muslim comment was a little misguided, but it really is hard to tell. Most will just "label" someone as a member of a particular religious order by what they wear, skin colour and native alphabet, among other things.

Also, I know Canada has heavy fines for the carrier of a passenger who does not have the correct travel documentation, so it may have been cheaper to return. Could have just got on the wrong flight, but then, who's fault would that be?

Just some thought, although, I'm not an airline pilot.

Pi,

Not being pedantic but as ss says above you cannot tell someones religion by their skin tone or anything else -you have to ask them.

Understand fully the date and the thoughts of everyone onboard.

Apart from that if I was told after departure that if had 'wrong bags' onboard for whatever reason i would elect to land asap and if close to departure would more than likely elect there.

All standard stuff I suspect

Indeed, heavy fine.

We had a pax try to go to Oz from the US without a visa, 10,000 USD fine.... for the airline.

No airline would ever order the return of a large heavy jet upon discovering that one or two pax didn't have a visa, and that there would be a $10,000 fine for each pax at the other end of a 14 hour flight. What do you think the costs would be to "return" in terms of landing and handling fees, not to mention fuel dumping..? Think about it. :rolleyes:

Duly noted GlueBall. That's why the airlines are sticklers for paperwork. I'm quite sure the balk at paying the fines and returning the passenger.

I was in London with my family, my sister was 15 when she went but turned 16 during the trip. The airline wouldn't allow her on the aircraft as she required her own seperate passport (she was traveling on my Mother's passport) but couldn't get her own until she was 16, as she started the trip at 15, there was little we could do. In the end, we got a friend to meet us at YYZ with her Canadian Citizenship paperwork to prove she was Canadian.

I've returned for less, but I don't fly heavies - maybe dispatch treats you guys different, ATC seems to; we get twice the off-course vectors. ;)

I dont see why they wouldnt return, thats a pretty big fine. I have been in the situation before where the groundstaff forgot to give the pax a form saying 'I know i havent a visa but ill chance it', and in that case it is the airline that pays up not the pax. Need to weigh up cost of return vs cost of fine, and also the date.

If they were only going to italy they may not have needed to dump fuel (may have taken off with less than MLW ??).

would there still be a fine if they just took the guy straight back on the next flight? ie. didn't go through customs or anything. the next flight was only an hour after landing in italy.

pythagoras,

Yes.

(simple answer !!)