MYT Flight Revolt
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Flight Revolt
Journalist Peter Lazenby in tonight's Yorkshire Evening Post reports (front page lead) that holidaymakers 'refused to fly' on MYT 392 from Minorca to LBA on Friday because of 'farcical' technical problems, including having the captain 'twice refuse to take off' and then culminating in him asking, 'standing on a chair', "who would be prepared to fly". This was a front page story on a big-selling paper and maybe it's time you guys and gals put in place a PR function that journalists (the good, bad and ugly) could check things out through before printing garbage. C'mon Danny, this is the next development in your brilliant website. And please, readers, don't misinterpret this post. I'm a grateful pax and hate some of the stuff I read about the profession I never quite attained.
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But the situation described in the newspaper article is almost exactly how one of my neighbours described the incident to me on Sunday (see separate thread on Questions forum). He was one of the passengers who refused to fly. A middle aged sensible professional chap who is used to flying. Dont miss the main point by criticising the journalists. Whatever the position the crew found themselves in, Mytravel's treatment of their passengers at the time was poor. They need to give urgent attention to just how much information to give to passengers, and avoid creating unnecessary fears. As Ptarmigan states this is a big selling newspaper and it's not the publicity the company needs.
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The Telegraph has a slightly different version of the story. Here it is, from Tuesday's (12 Aug) online edition:
This is the captain speaking. Who wants to get off?
By Paul Stokes
(Filed: 12/08/2003)
Fourteen passengers, including a former pilot, refused to rejoin a holiday flight after they were involved in two high-speed test runs to check a faulty warning light.
The light came on as flight MYT392, a Boeing 757-200 operated by MyTravel, was preparing to take off from Minorca with 230 passengers bound for Leeds-Bradford airport. It indicated that the aircraft was airborne when it was still on the ground.
The captain used the recognised procedure of accelerating along the taxiway, a test area beside the runway, and braking sharply to redistribute the luggage in the hold.
The first attempt failed but the second succeeded in switching off the light.
Women and children were in tears as the aircraft then returned to the terminal at Mahon airport, where staff transferred luggage from the rear baggage hold to the front.
The captain stood on a chair and explained what had happened. He said that all safety precautions had been carried out and that the airliner was now ready for take-off.
Maurice Atkinson, 72, a former RAF pilot, and his wife Sheila were among those who refused to get back on.
Mr Atkinson said: "A lot of people did not want to, but when the pilot said that if they stayed behind they would be responsible for getting themselves back home, only 14 refused to go on board."
Mrs Atkinson said: "It was very chaotic. A lot of people were very upset.
"It was supposed to have been a computer problem that caused the light to come on, but I did not want anything going wrong as we flew over the Pyrenees."
The couple, from Harrogate, paid £100 each for a flight home on Saturday, a day late, and spent £46 more on train fares. They plan to seek compensation. Flight MYT392 arrived at Leeds-Bradford eight hours late.
MyTravel said: "The captain took all reasonable safety measures and kept passengers informed at all times.
"Anyone who did not choose to fly was assisted with alternative flights."
This is the captain speaking. Who wants to get off?
By Paul Stokes
(Filed: 12/08/2003)
Fourteen passengers, including a former pilot, refused to rejoin a holiday flight after they were involved in two high-speed test runs to check a faulty warning light.
The light came on as flight MYT392, a Boeing 757-200 operated by MyTravel, was preparing to take off from Minorca with 230 passengers bound for Leeds-Bradford airport. It indicated that the aircraft was airborne when it was still on the ground.
The captain used the recognised procedure of accelerating along the taxiway, a test area beside the runway, and braking sharply to redistribute the luggage in the hold.
The first attempt failed but the second succeeded in switching off the light.
Women and children were in tears as the aircraft then returned to the terminal at Mahon airport, where staff transferred luggage from the rear baggage hold to the front.
The captain stood on a chair and explained what had happened. He said that all safety precautions had been carried out and that the airliner was now ready for take-off.
Maurice Atkinson, 72, a former RAF pilot, and his wife Sheila were among those who refused to get back on.
Mr Atkinson said: "A lot of people did not want to, but when the pilot said that if they stayed behind they would be responsible for getting themselves back home, only 14 refused to go on board."
Mrs Atkinson said: "It was very chaotic. A lot of people were very upset.
"It was supposed to have been a computer problem that caused the light to come on, but I did not want anything going wrong as we flew over the Pyrenees."
The couple, from Harrogate, paid £100 each for a flight home on Saturday, a day late, and spent £46 more on train fares. They plan to seek compensation. Flight MYT392 arrived at Leeds-Bradford eight hours late.
MyTravel said: "The captain took all reasonable safety measures and kept passengers informed at all times.
"Anyone who did not choose to fly was assisted with alternative flights."
Moderate, Modest & Mild.
The captain used the recognised procedure of accelerating along the taxiway...and braking sharply to redistribute the luggage in the hold. 
Personally I haven't used that "recognised procedure".
I guess it's Boeing approved?!
"Yeah..just chuck 'em in anywhere. I'll be using the old "Baggage Redistribution Procedure (RDP)" to sort 'em out!".
Danny - this one is RIGHT up your alley.
Personally I haven't used that "recognised procedure".
I guess it's Boeing approved?!
"Yeah..just chuck 'em in anywhere. I'll be using the old "Baggage Redistribution Procedure (RDP)" to sort 'em out!".
Danny - this one is RIGHT up your alley.
The Times reports it thus:
August 12, 2003
I've fixed the plane, now hands up if you want to fly with me, says pilot
By Steve Bird
A PILOT asked nearly 200 weary British tourists to give a show of hands if they wanted to fly home on board an aircraft that he had personally repaired.
The holidaymakers had been stranded for seven hours in Minorca after the Boeing 757’s onboard computer repeatedly insisted that it was airborne despite being parked on the sweltering Tarmac.
Covered in oil after resetting a sensor in the aircraft’s nosewheel, the pilot stood on a chair in the terminal building and pleaded with the exhausted tourists to join him. But despite reassuring them that the MyTravel aircraft was safe, families were split over whether to board. In the end 13 passengers refused.
Johnathon McMillan, 36, said that his wife Fiona, 34, and son, Ross, 6, began to cry when one of the passengers mentioned his fear that the aircraft could crash. “I’ve never had to make a decision like that in my life before. If the truth be known, we thought it was a decision between life and death. The prospect of being in a plane which doesn’t know whether it’s in the air or on the ground is terrifying.
The aircraft had been due to fly at 5.20pm last Friday. Nearly seven hours later the pilot took off, and landed safely at Leeds-Bradford airport at 2.13am on Saturday.
The McMillan family flew home the next day. Mr McMillan paid £350 for his family to fly with another airline. They plan to try to claim back the money.
A MyTravel spokeswoman said that the problem was “merely a faulty indication light” and that the captain had kept passengers fully informed at all times. “Any customer who did not choose to fly was assisted with alternative flight options.”
Ewen Godrey, 50, a senior education officer from Bingley, West Yorkshire, also refused to board. He said: “There were a lot of scared people.” He said that passengers were told that accommodation on the island was full and they would have to pay for their own flights back if they did not board.
August 12, 2003
I've fixed the plane, now hands up if you want to fly with me, says pilot
By Steve Bird
A PILOT asked nearly 200 weary British tourists to give a show of hands if they wanted to fly home on board an aircraft that he had personally repaired.
The holidaymakers had been stranded for seven hours in Minorca after the Boeing 757’s onboard computer repeatedly insisted that it was airborne despite being parked on the sweltering Tarmac.
Covered in oil after resetting a sensor in the aircraft’s nosewheel, the pilot stood on a chair in the terminal building and pleaded with the exhausted tourists to join him. But despite reassuring them that the MyTravel aircraft was safe, families were split over whether to board. In the end 13 passengers refused.
Johnathon McMillan, 36, said that his wife Fiona, 34, and son, Ross, 6, began to cry when one of the passengers mentioned his fear that the aircraft could crash. “I’ve never had to make a decision like that in my life before. If the truth be known, we thought it was a decision between life and death. The prospect of being in a plane which doesn’t know whether it’s in the air or on the ground is terrifying.
The aircraft had been due to fly at 5.20pm last Friday. Nearly seven hours later the pilot took off, and landed safely at Leeds-Bradford airport at 2.13am on Saturday.
The McMillan family flew home the next day. Mr McMillan paid £350 for his family to fly with another airline. They plan to try to claim back the money.
A MyTravel spokeswoman said that the problem was “merely a faulty indication light” and that the captain had kept passengers fully informed at all times. “Any customer who did not choose to fly was assisted with alternative flight options.”
Ewen Godrey, 50, a senior education officer from Bingley, West Yorkshire, also refused to board. He said: “There were a lot of scared people.” He said that passengers were told that accommodation on the island was full and they would have to pay for their own flights back if they did not board.
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Could someone who knows what the tech problem was give us details on the procedure that called for a high speed run with harsh braking (I’m assuming it’s a short runway
But what possessed the crew to do something like whatever it was they did with pax on board? Were they hoping they could continue the takeoff if the glitch resolved itself?
As for:
…give me strength! Even allowing for the sometimes ridiculous comments we see from so-called journalists, I’d have thought even the most yellow-press editor might have paused before allowing one of his ‘journalists’ to submit something so patently ludicrous as that.
But what possessed the crew to do something like whatever it was they did with pax on board? Were they hoping they could continue the takeoff if the glitch resolved itself?
As for:
The captain used the recognised procedure of accelerating along the taxiway, a test area beside the runway, and braking sharply to redistribute the luggage in the hold.
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From the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3143237.stm
Isn't it great how 230 pax = "nearly 300"
ES
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3143237.stm
Isn't it great how 230 pax = "nearly 300"
ES
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Kirsty Young on Radio 2 (sitting in for that plonker Jeremy Vine) has just put out a request for any of the pax on this flight to call in with their stories...
Ozzy
Ozzy
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
BBC:
"Why does the pilot need a light to tell him whether the plane is on the ground or in the air? Isn't there some kind of manual check for this?"
Nick, UK
Reminds me of Mark Twain. Give FOs a plumb line to heave out the window. Put some knots in the string and they could work out the speed in knots as well.
"Why does the pilot need a light to tell him whether the plane is on the ground or in the air? Isn't there some kind of manual check for this?"
Nick, UK
Reminds me of Mark Twain. Give FOs a plumb line to heave out the window. Put some knots in the string and they could work out the speed in knots as well.
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Perhaps some of you need to stop and think before you accuse the pilot of bad captaincy. Seems to me he went above and beyond the call, he could have just said "tech" and parked it.
Instead, he did all he could to solve the problem, communicated with his pax about the nature of the problem and his fix, and then gave them the choice as to whether or not they wanted to travel- probably because he realised some would be nervous. He could have left these tasks to engineers and handling agents (but then of course there probably wasn't an engineer for 100 miles, and many handling agents are less than helpful in these situations).
The "facts" are somewhere between sketchy and fantasy, but a little less jumping to conclusions would be in order, don't you think?
Instead, he did all he could to solve the problem, communicated with his pax about the nature of the problem and his fix, and then gave them the choice as to whether or not they wanted to travel- probably because he realised some would be nervous. He could have left these tasks to engineers and handling agents (but then of course there probably wasn't an engineer for 100 miles, and many handling agents are less than helpful in these situations).
The "facts" are somewhere between sketchy and fantasy, but a little less jumping to conclusions would be in order, don't you think?
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Well in Raw Data. Once had an interminable delay on board a Eurocypria 320. The cap went into great detail about oleo's & why we had to stay on the a/c whilst the techs whipped out the wd40.
At least we knew...
At least we knew...
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Ozzy, can't imagine that Radio does much to keep you awake! Perhaps you should be listening to one of the other 363 "British" stations available through the Internet!!
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin...go.x=16&go.y=3
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin...go.x=16&go.y=3
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Raw Data - you may well be right although in that case the captain needs to do some work on his people management and communication skills. The fact that some passengers refused to fly on an airworthy plane seems to indicate that he didn't manage their concerns effectively.
Use of appropriate language can do a lot in these circumstances. I cannot remember how many planes I have been on with technical delays but I have never known panic as reported here. I was on a plane with cabin airpressure problems (far more concerning than this problem I would have thought) but we eventually departed with all the passengers.
Something along the lines of telling SLF there was a minor problem with a suspension indicator light and that he was confident that the plane was still safe but he wasn't going to take any risks no matter how small, may have worked better than letting people believe that they were on a plane which thought it was airborne when it was parked!
Use of appropriate language can do a lot in these circumstances. I cannot remember how many planes I have been on with technical delays but I have never known panic as reported here. I was on a plane with cabin airpressure problems (far more concerning than this problem I would have thought) but we eventually departed with all the passengers.
Something along the lines of telling SLF there was a minor problem with a suspension indicator light and that he was confident that the plane was still safe but he wasn't going to take any risks no matter how small, may have worked better than letting people believe that they were on a plane which thought it was airborne when it was parked!