V-Flyer

This seems the best forum for this question, since although it was provoked by the events at LHR this week it isn't actually related to any specific airline.

It has been very interesting to read the comments of the paasengers from the BA flight.

All have been fullsome in their praise of the staff on board, both flight & cabin crew, but less than happy about events on the ground.

Talk of being confined for three hours with just rationed water to drink. No chance of food. No counselling or other pastoral care.

They seemed to be blaming BA, but should an event like this be down to the airline involved?

We've talked this over at home & have to agree that we'd have been in a sorry situation if it had been us aboard. All our cash/cards/keys/phones etc are normally kept in cabin baggage & wouldn't have come down the slide with us.

Interested to hear the views of other travellers

Ron

There is a large post on Flytertalk.com on the BA forum about this.

The first post on this page http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=780194&page=42, provides a very interesting insight into the situation.

I'm sure of there are improvements that can be made, then they will - especially since this was in essence a 'hypothetical' situation until Thursday lunchtime.

It's a simple case of logistics. You cannot have armies of properly trained counselor on standby 'just in case'. They have to be brought in as needed and may well be with other patients when the call comes in.

The personal items on board will have to remain there until the AAIB have finished and the plane released back to BA.

OK, if they haven't had any food or drink other than water, a) that's plain wrong, and b) I'd be very surprised!!

I'm just waiting for all the 'I want I want' and 'I'm suing' stories to appear.

Originally posted by Moonraker
This seems the best forum for this question, since although it was provoked by the events at LHR this week it isn't actually related to any specific airline.

It has been very interesting to read the comments of the paasengers from the BA flight.

All have been fullsome in their praise of the staff on board, both flight & cabin crew, but less than happy about events on the ground.

Talk of being confined for three hours with just rationed water to drink. No chance of food. No counselling or other pastoral care.

They seemed to be blaming BA, but should an event like this be down to the airline involved?

We've talked this over at home & have to agree that we'd have been in a sorry situation if it had been us aboard. All our cash/cards/keys/phones etc are normally kept in cabin baggage & wouldn't have come down the slide with us.

Interested to hear the views of other travellers

Ron

Its an interesting topic, however I have not read the same criticism myself and would actually take with a pinch of salf some of the things reported by the press.

There is an interesting first hand account on flyertalk from a member of BA staff recounting how the pax were taken into the T1 lounges and in the circumstances very well cared for.

In my former profession I was exposed to quite a lot of real life situations and training in incidents/evacuations and post incident procedures relating to CT, some of this involved matters relating to aircraft and airports.

Any procedure that swings into action involving large numbers of uninjured people, can in the early stages to the lay person seem as though the people are being dealt with firmly or harshly. This is mainly because these people (survivors) have to be told what to do, where to go etc, either to get them from A to B or to keep them in one place. This may have to be done quickly because of the situation they have found themselves in. This can involve them being dealt with in a way that in normal circumstances they wouldn't like.... let alone when they are shocked, confused or frightened..... Of course once things settle down (depending on the incident this can be a few minutes to a few hours)then of course they are all treated with a great deal of care according to their needs.

The overiding thing with these procedures is that it is always done with the best interests of those involved and for their own good.

If people were just allowed to wander off what sort of a mess would things be in then ?


Cheers

Mark [:D]