I guess the moral of this story is, don’t do something dumb that will bring you to the attention of authorities – if you’ve got something to hide.
It seems a man from Maine accidentally lit a match on a US Airways flight from Washington to Boston as he was removing the match book from his pocket. A small fire ensued, but he put it out.
Unluckily for him, flight attendants take a dim view of fires on their airplanes and the Massachusetts State Police were there to greet this fellow upon landing in Logan. And, during questioning, they discovered he was wanted in Georgia for identity fraud and was arrested.
No charges were filed in the match lighting incident.
Two cabin crew members of Emirates airline – including a flight attendant – have been ordered by authorities in Dubai to serve three months in jail “over sexually explicit text messages”.
According to the Reuters story, it’s not clear if these messages were exchanged between the two or how they came to the attention of authorities, but – fair warning – this is an extremely conservative part of the world, and they mean business when foreigners break their laws.
If you think three months is harsh, know this: the original sentence called for six months in prison, but was reduced on appeal.
Consumerist has an update about that “strange odor” on a plane that I told you about yesterday – a smell that prompted nine people to seek medical treatment – including two pilots and five flight attendants.
Turns out the plane’s aroma has created problems before: this is the very same plane that made people sick in late December and mid-January. Three times in three months!
The plane’s now out of service; US Airways says, they’re at the trouble-shooting stage. I certainly hope they find the trouble this time.
Turbulence. It can occur on the best of flights, anytime of the year. And it can be a minor annoyance – or spill your drink all over your lap – or worse.
I delve into the subject in my latest weekly column for ABCNews.com and I learned a thing or two, including the following:
- How many people are injured by turbulence each year? Answer: nearly 60 a year, in the U.S. alone.
- Who are injured most frequently? Answer: flight attendants
- Why do people get up to use the lavatory when the seat belt sign is on? Answer: take your pick between A.) cockiness or B.) cluelessness
- What does “pancake batter” have to do with turbulence? Answer: read the column to find out
Read what a flight attendant has to say about turbulence (and she ought to know, since turbulence once left her knocked unconscious) and how something as simple as keeping your seat belt buckled can save untold misery.
The Ides of March don’t make an appearance until next week, but there’s been plenty of weirdness already, at least in the air travel sector recently - as I noted in my latest column for ABCNews.com: “Top Five Worst Travel Stories of the Week.”
You may have read about some of these bizarre incidents (the fake pilot, the way under-age air traffic controllers), but I provide a twist to all these stories – at the end of each, you will note I added an “Upside”.
I think you’ll enjoy it – although judging by a couple of the comments left by ABC readers at the end of the column, it seems to have left some really angry. Not sure why…
An update from the Dallas Morning News:
Once contract talks recessed last night, American’s flight attendants said they would be asking for a “30-day cooling off period”.
This could be one of the last steps before a strike.
But understant that, nothing is imminent – and the News says, the airline “looks forward to further negotiations.”
Stay tuned…
You know, I’ve written about a lot of weird incidents in the air travel industry over the years but this may well take the cake…if not the whole bakery.
It seems, according to Sky News, that there is some concern that laid off flight attendants from Japan Airlines (JAL) will try to sell their uniforms to…Tokyo sex clubs.
This – is embarrassing. But I will soldier on.
It seems these rather prim looking uniforms are “keenly sought after by role-playing clubs within the Japanese sex industry” – and we’re told that a uniform was recently selling for more than $3,000 on a Japanese online auction site.
The airline responded by saying JAL keeps track of their uniforms so they cannot be “misused” –partly because it’s a security issue – and the clothing must be returned to the company by flight attendants.
What – or else you’ll fire them?
This is bittersweet: Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger who gently landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River after a bird strike disabled both engines, is calling it a day.
Also retiring is flight attendant Doreen Welsh, who was one of the calm and collected crew members who made sure all 150 people on the “miracle” flight, got out alive.
We’ll probably learn more about this soon, but at the moment, I’m not seeing any specific reason for these retirements – although both are 59 years old and have been with the airline for decades
Said US Airways CEO Doug Parker, “We will miss them and thank them for all they have given to our customers during their years of service with our airline.”
They will indeed be missed. Very much. And I thank them both for their service.
