Vueling - "sorry door problem at front, have to tape it off, but it's ok honest "
 

MADRID (Reuters) - A pilot told nervous passengers travelling with a low-cost Spanish airline that nearly half the seats on their plane were out of use due to a safety problem but it was nothing to worry about, a Spanish newspaper reported.


As passengers took their seats on the Lisbon to Madrid flight operated by Vueling Airlines on Sunday they noticed that all but three of the 32 rows on one side of the plane were taped off, according to an El Mundo reporter among the travellers.


The captain told them on the intercom: "We will not be able to use that part of the plane because we have a safety problem with the door at the front. Don't worry, it's only a safety problem", the newspaper reported.
Some passengers took photos of the taped-off seats but staff stopped them saying it was against company rules.


Others became nervous including one passenger who asked whether the plane could tip over in mid-air by flying with a heavier load on one side.
The safety problem was with the slide on one of the plane's eight emergency exit doors, a spokeswoman for Vueling said.


The firm followed aviation guidelines which allow the door to be used but oblige a reduction in passenger numbers because it cannot fulfil its emergency function, she said.

Standard MEL procedure with a goosed door. So what's the problem?

Just goes to show what a bunch of hysteric passengers know about weight and balance.

Where in...does it sayToday's misleading thread title award goes to....:=

Yaawwwnnn :hmm:

DOnt worry... I assume the other 3 or 4 doors would have been adequate enough to evacuate half a plane load of passengers!!!

Damn, why do these people check in their brains with their bags?

"Damn, why do these people check in their brains with their bags?"
Oh forgive us oh Great One. For those that have no knowledge of such matters and are nervous we humbly apologise. We will sit like sheep and query no more lest we offend thee.

Bad attitude, bad PR
 

4potflyer and apaddyinuk presumably do not rely on an income derived from bunches of hysteric pax who have checked in their brains.

on the other hand : working successfully in a service industry presupposes a certain understanding of the customers and keeping them in the belief that they receive value for money.

Not everyone who is not a commercial pilot is necessarily an idiot.

The operator and crew on this particular flight acted professionally in reducing the number of passengers in accordance with SOP and explained the circumstances to their customers. Thank you.

Calling your customers brainless hysterics will do nothing to reassure them - they might wonder if their service providers lack perception.

We know - but the public does not
 

Yes of course - we pros understand the procedures.

There is more to it than that, however. A professional crew should inform the pax as soon as anything seems unusual, so that such panic making publicity is avoided before it starts.


FC.

Ok. For the benefit of those not "in the know". When an exit door on an aircraft becomes unusable the Captain HAS to, by law, consult a document called the MEL (Minimum Equipment List). Within this document will be details of the procedures and actions to be applied in the event that certain parts of the aircraft are inoperative. Some inoperative items are called "no go" items which means the aircraft is AOG (Aircraft On Ground) and it cannot dispatch with passengers until fixed. Sometimes an aircraft can dispatch without pax to get back to a maintenance base.

With respect to doors, the MEL will dictate which seats have to be blocked off and the maximum number of pax that can be carried. So an overwing exit inop is not the same as a main door inop for example. From memory a main door inop on the A320 reduces the max load by about 40% and the seating in the general area (but very specific seats) is blocked off.

It is a responsibility of the Captain to make it very clear to all passengers the implications of an inop exit and again to emphasise that safety is not being compromised (by reducing the number of pax and blocking off seats). This appears to have been done on this occaision. Can't comment on the "all pax seated on one side" aspect because I don't have access to Vuelings MEL (which has to be approved by the Spanish CAA by the way).


I can understand why passengers get nervous - they don't understand and that's not their fault (I don't know anything about medical research - but I don't get criticised for that). However what they should realise is that we, as pilots, also have a vested interest in the safe operation of the aircraft! Not only from the point of view of safety but also from the point that if we knowingly break the rules we could lose our licence (livelyhood). So no right minded pilot is going to try and "fudge it" or "try and get away with it". Even though most pilots are pragmatic and goal orientated, it's too risky from a safety and professional point of view.

Hope this goes some way to explaining things.

A4 :)

The thread title was indeed meant to be tongue in cheek, as a pilot who is in the know also told me this is standard practice - it was to indicate just how the press will take anything on board, write it up, not check, assume. I would have thought Reuters and Vueling press office would have had a little discussion and at least Vueling would have right of reply - be interesting to know from any insiders if Vueling at least got contact by the journo before he/she rushed to his editor and said they had a great scoop.....

A right to a proper explanation.
 

I would have been worried unless this was explained properly because our natural fear is not that the door won't open or there is no slide, but that it might just not stay closed. You see I have had the dubious privilege of sitting in Row 2 in a small turboprop with a door seal that appeared to be causing trouble before we left and I was told not to worry my silly little head about it. It failed in the climb. So sorry, if you guys are professional at the flying bit I expect you to be professional about how you explain the issues and since that is the only chance we get to form opinions on your competence, do not be suprised if when you screw up the small stuff, we worry about the big stuff.

The problem started when they let the pax decide which one should stay and which one should leave, of course everybody wanted to leave and war started.

Pax nowaday are not the same as 10 years ago, and company service is also not the same. Crew followed the MEL but the company did not do his job, you pay low cost you get low service, that´s all.

55yrsSLC_10yearsPPL:

You are right one two counts (i) My income is not derived from flying sadly, and (ii) you are quite right about customer service and it seems to me that the captain triggered some nerves by a 'lost in translation' announcement that made it sound like there was a safety issue with the plane.

It was not my intention either to belittle passengers who are nervous, or to imply that those who care for passengers daily would make such a statement. My comment was poorly thought out.

Assuming the press report was based on something....
The ultimate hilarious part is of course taping off one SIDE of the cabin.
To get out in an emergency, you first have to get into the aisle anyway, never mind from which side.
And then the "crime scene" tape.... :=
RyanAir has a very simple system... they just drop the tables in front of the seats they don't want people to sit it when the a/c isn't full (usually back and front). Keeps the pax closer to the c/g, and probably simplifies service too.

good, because people like you who dont have a clue shouldnt be in here. We know what we're doing.

How would these people feel if we went to there work and started telling them what is and isnt allowed even though we dont have a b**dy clue. :ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

Priceless, this from a 22 year old kid posting on a site where "trained professionals" spend page after page disagreeing on what would be the correct procedure on dealing with mostly "non-events". As a world wide frequent flyer for close to 40 years I have no idea on how to fly an airplane, but I start to get an idea on how some of you consider us SLC. Not that it comes as much of a surprise. Do carry on though, I find PPRUNE more than mildly amusing.;)
Per

Per, You'll find a bit of everything here, from the mildly amusing to the absolutely hilarious.
You'll also find exchanges, where "hi-tech" questions get an almost instant "hi-tech" answer. If you "have no idea on how to fly an airplane", most of those will make little sense to you, but they are part of what makes PPRuNe useful.
The nice thing about PPRuNe is you can take your pick, and enjoy, ATPL license, SLF, or "mere" spotter.
(The spotter forum will now come down on me like a ton of bricks... that too is PPRuNe... :ok:).

Christiaan. Too right and that's what I like about this place.
Per out.

I think if you read the pages and pages of "non-events" you will find that most of the discussion comes from spotters trying to show off to there little buddies, when in reality they have no idea what they are talking about. If you read, for example the oman air engine failure most of the professionals are saying well done to the crew regardless of how they did it, they got on the ground. the rest is just dribble (I may be wrong, but i normally give up reading after the spotters get in a conversation.

And just so you know, I am not a 22 kid. I am a 22 year old who didnt sit on his arse after he finished school, he got a job, worked every shift he could find to pay to put him self through a PROFESSIONAL pilots course. Ask anyone who I have worked with and they will tell I am no kid.