Captain flees aircraft before passengers during potential fire
 

A CAPTAIN fled his plane on HIS OWN after an explosion before take-off and abandoned his passengers and crew.

Brits say the pilot did a “full Costa Concordia” by escaping the burning aircraft FIRST without stopping to help anyone else after an “almighty bang” at the rear.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/...d2d4c7589c.jpg
3Brits were stuck on a plane that was on fire while they captain fledhttps://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/...aff7ff48ea.jpg
3One holidaymaker said the captain did a 'full Costa Concordia' - referring to the Italian cruise ship captain who abandoned ship while it sunkChaos broke out on the flight as it prepared to take off from Barcelona when a burning smell and smoke started to fill the cabin of the Spanish budget airline Vueling flight.

As panicked stewards raced up and down the aisle, families watched in shock as the pilot raced out of the cockpit, opened the side door and ran off the aircraft without stopping.

Gobsmacked Andrew Benion, 50, who was among hundreds of Britons on the flight to Birmingham, said: “It was completely shocking.

“Nearly everyone on the plane is British and everyone was belting up.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19294320/captain-flees-plane-and-passengers-after-fire-breaks-out/

Another excellent piece of reporting by The Sun!

I have spat out my Tea reading this

"As crew, we will be the last to leave the aircraft. As captain, I will be the last to leave. Should I pass you, you are to assume the rank of captain"

Has anyone thought that the captain rushed to take a look at the APU, which is the most likely source of the problem?

That's what came to my mind.

Saw David Gunson do his talk live. A company booked him for a conference I was at. Wish I'd known in advance. I could have bought my CD for him to sign.

And has anyone thought that it was actually the First Officer, despatched for that purpose by the Captain? "White shirt; Tie; epaulettes; must be the Captain!". I think James T Kirk is the only captain who regularly abandons his command to personally investigate strange new situations.

What I find more difficult to believe is that all the cabin crew, bar one, also disembarked but, heck, you've got to add some embellishment to guarantee a quote in the Currant Bun.

Or that the captain dispatched the F/O who also happened to be a captain (so 4 stripes) to go check? It is not that uncommon for a captain to be crewed as F/O due to crewing logistics on a given day.

Has anyone thought that Captain Concordia rushed to to check whether there was fire coming out of the funnel? :p

Who can distinguish between 3 and 4 bars on a "running" person, more then 4 ft away, in the brief moments it takes to go from the cockpit door to the 1R bulkhead?
Do these people know there are actually two in the front?
Do they know how to distinguish them even in static proximity conditions?
Do they know evacuation procedures might include the co-pilot go out to help with the evacuation?

Incorrectly attributed to Churchill:

"There are three things I like about being on Italian cruise ships. First, their cuisine is unsurpassed. Second, their service is superb. And then, in time of emergency, there is none of this nonsense about women and children first."

​​​​​"Extra crew" (jump seaters/additional crew members) hitching a ride up front is (was?) pretty common in Spain. Possibly explanation for one pilot leaving. Leaves the question why there was only one FA directing the disembarkation. Obviously the source article is questionable.

Also, if the pilot did run out to check, I would have expected him to come back, and there's no mention of that.

What a strange story, can be the first thing you do is either pop outside yourself or send the FO (who could have 4 stripes) to gather some information. Looks like something to do with the APU so maybe he scarpered out to have a first hand look.

We’re down to 4 stripes …..perfect, whatever happened to a captain exercising his responsibility .

Aren’t there trained firefighters rushing to the aircraft to do that? Not to mention the ground crew.
Isn’t the first thing to do is shut down , carry out emergency drills to fight fire using engine or APU fire extinguishing systems as required and then evacuate the passengers?

So many bricks, so little straw...

This story seems to reinforce the option of not reading and not always believing the media. Kelvin Mackenzie used to have a sign in the editors office hanging above the desk. " Make it up and make it quick".

Ahem, not to be a nitpicker but the correct expression is "going Schettino".
:p

Can someone explain to me what difference it makes that "nearly everyone on the plane is British"?

It was in The Sun - I'm amazed they didn't mention the Armada...