Archive for the ‘In-Flight’ Category

Published January 17, 2012 | NewsCore

Passengers flying over the Atlantic were terrified when it was announced twice that their plane could be about to crash.  British Airways (BA) Flight 206 was at 35,000 feet, halfway from Miami to London’s Heathrow Airport, when the taped message was played by accident.  Screams rang out as the message was repeated.

An Edinburgh man said, “It was about 3:00am. An alarm sounded, and we were told we were about to land in the sea. I thought we were going to die. My wife was crying, and passengers were screaming. Then they played an announcement telling us to just ignore the warnings.”

Another passenger said, “When we landed, they were handing out letters apologizing, but it was the worst experience of my life. I don’t think BA should get away with this.”

A BA spokesman said of the scare en route to Heathrow on Friday, “The cabin crew canceled the announcement immediately and sought to reassure customers that the flight was operating normally. We apologize to customers for causing them undue concern.”

In August 2010, a message announcing, “We may shortly need to make an emergency landing on water,” was played by mistake on a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Hong Kong.

Some habits seem to die hard…

Our thanks to Frederick Russillo for submitting the above story.

Click:   The Flight Attendant Wiggle

Ah, that’s the way to get a passenger’s attention!  Flight attendants for a low-cost Philippine airline who gained fame by dancing through safety demonstrations are back dancing through the aisles.

They’ve swapped the Lady Gaga tunes that made them popular last year for Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

Manila-based Cebu Pacific airline says the choreographed dance helps passengers pay more attention to the safety demonstration.  I bet…!

Our thanks to Tom Kraay for submitting the story for this jazzy post!

On August 12, 2011 it was reported that a drunk passenger – a U.S. Olympic hopeful – who had consumed 8 drinks emptied his bladder on a sleeping 11-year-old girl as he stumbled down the aisle inflight to use the toilet.  Robert “Sandy” Vietze, 18, was aboard JetBlue Flight 166 from Portland, Oregon to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport when the incident happened.  Vietze was quoted as saying, “I was drunk, and I didn’t realize I was pissing on her leg”.

Vietze’s action violated the USSA code of conduct and team agreement according to a representative of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.  As a result, Sandy Vietze has been dismissed from the U.S. Ski Team.  When the plane arrived at the gate in New York, Vietze was issued a federal summons for indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, and he could face up to one year in jail.

Meet Iurii Chumak.

The 53-year-old was recently arrested after allegedly groping a flight attendant while onboard a British Airways flight traveling from London to New York on April 28, 2011. Chumak, seen in the mug shot on the left, was photographed by the United States Marshals Service after being forcibly de-planed in handcuffs.

According to The Smoking Gun, Chumak placed his hand up the flight attendant’s skirt and “grabbed her genital area” when she bent over to pour coffee for another passenger and “began to run his fingers back and forth”. Although the incident was witnessed by a second flight attendant, who immediately placed him in restraints, Chumak maintained that he had simply been “drinking on the airplane, fell asleep, and woke up in restraints.” The second attendant told the FBI that a male passenger had previously complained that Chumak–drinking from a bottle of Dewar’s–had “bothered and verbally abused” his wife.

Since his bust, Chumak has been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He was named last week in a misdemeanor criminal information charging him in connection with the in-flight April 28 incident (the filing of an information–in lieu of a grand jury presentment by federal prosecutors–often indicates that a defendant is negotiating a guilty plea).

Chumak’s lawyer, Sergei Orel, declined on May 31 to comment about his client’s case.

THINGS LIKE THIS MUST BE GOING AROUND… 

On March 27, 2011 another groping incident happened but this time on Delta Airlines Flight 269.  

An Israeli rabbi flying to New York from Tel Aviv allegedly twice fondled a female passenger as she slept, and when the woman angrily confronted him, he claimed, “It’s a mistake, I’m asleep,” according to federal court records.

About 90 minutes into the 12-hour flight, rabbi Bidany allegedly reached over to the sleeping woman seated next to him and “placed his hand under her blanket, on her groin, and was groping her genital area.” When the victim, identified only as “Jane Doe” in the complaint, “jumped back,” Bidany “quickly removed his hand from her groin.”

The woman told the FBI that she then “pulled her blanket back over her head and body.” But minutes later, Bidany allegedly again “reached under the passenger’s blanket, this time groping the passenger’s breasts.” “What are you doing, stop touching me,” she told Bidany.

He replied, “It’s a mistake, I’m asleep,” according to FBI agent Ambrisco. The female passenger “then left her seat to advise the flight crew of the incident.” Delta personnel confirmed to the FBI that the passenger had reported the inappropriate touching to them, and one crew member described the woman as “visibly shaken and frantic.”

Saul Bienenfeld, Bidany’s lawyer, declined recently to discuss the case against his client, but said that the rabbi “asserts his total innocence” and states that the alleged sexual contact “never occurred.”

Following his arrest, Bidany posted $250,000 bond and was ordered to surrender his passport and limit his travels to the New York City metropolitan area. At his April 5 arraignment, the Orthodox rabbi sought permission to return to Israel, though that request was denied by a magistrate judge.  Later, Bidany bail was modified and he was allowed to travel to Israel from April 14 to May 1 for the Passover holiday. He had also recently learned his father was gravely ill.  Bidany’s bond was increased to $500,000.  His trail was scheduled for May 4.