A bad end to a very long flight

Snuggle

Well-Known Member
So this is more of a discussion, however as a Captain what would you do?

So I'm non revenue passenger sitting in the first class cabin of a 777 which has just arrived into EWR from BOM. After a long but pleasant 15.5 hour flight me and all the other passengers are ready to get off the airplane. I am standing in front of the main cabin door as it opens. It opens to 2 police officers who start asking (shouting actually) at the flight attendant.

Officer "Where is the sick passenger?!?!" (very argumentative and yelled loudly)

FA: "I don't know anything about this"

Officer: "You are supposed to have everyone seated so we can get the passenger out, and we need to know where the passenger is seated"

FA "I didn't even know we had a sick passenger on board, I was never told anything about this. " At this time the flight attendant is already calling up front to find out about this.

All the while the other officer now enters the airplane.

Officer: "I need you to have everyone sit down"

Officer "Nobody gets off this airplane until I say so!, everyone needs to sit down!" (this was yelled very loudly)

Officer: "What do you people not understand, I said sit your asses down!"
(yelled loudly as well)

Everyone returns to their seats. Eventually it is discovered there is no sick passenger on board and everyone is allowed to exit the airplane. While deplaning one of the flight attendants is being yelled at by one of the officers. I never found out if the pilots called in a sick passenger and never told the FA's but it seemed like the cops got some wrong information either way. All the FA's were pretty stunned and not too happy about the way the police were handling the situation. It felt more like the twilight zone where we somehow flew back in time and arrived in Nazi Germany.


Discuss....
 
As written, sounds like there should've been some better pre-coordination, and the cops should've been able to figure out that if there was a sick pax, I'd bet that the FAs would've been instantly ready to point out where and have the cops go there.....the deer-in-headlights look they had should've been a heads up that they may have the wrong plane.

That, and the basic handling of it, seems rather odd. They're (cops) supposed to calm situations, not make them worse.
 
I hate when that happens. Luckily, you arrived into EWR. The sheep are prolly used to the cops acting this way. LGA had the same thing happen sometimes.

Paperwork city, so that why when a pax sues in 12-36 mos for emotional distress, there is an affidavit on file with the airline (you laugh, but I saw it happen more than once. Fill out those reports when pax get googly kids. It'll save you being grilled by some ambulance chaser in a deposition). It's not like the airline can call the cop shop and say "Uh, what's up with that?" and the Chief "My sincerest apologies, I'll have them dressed down immediately".
 
I hate when that happens. Luckily, you arrived into EWR. The sheep are prolly used to the cops acting this way. LGA had the same thing happen sometimes.

I'm not so sure they are used to it. True, there's frequent fliers, but for some of those passengers it's their first time coming to America. What a wonderful first impression that must have been.
 
Port Authority cops? I'm not surprised.:rolleyes: Most of them are nasty and some aren't all that bright. Sorry to my police friends (HI, FiveO!!),:) but.....
 
Yeah, I'd file a complaint against the officers. That's completely inappropriate behavior, especially if there was an emergency on board.
 
Unfortunate for the tired FA's and Pax. Someone fouled up. What if surprise ramp inspections were of the same caliber? Now that would be a sight to see!
 
Wow, how ridiculous. Especially since they seem to have no understanding of how authority works in an airplane; could potentially be a safety risk if somebody with a badge doesn't understand/follow the chain of command (nobody gets off until I say so, wtf?)
 
Port Authority police are the first responders for all medical emergencies at KJFK, LGA, and EWR. They then get to decide whether or not paramedics are required. Sounds like they got the wrong airplane, but don't expect them to ever admit fault.
 
Just curious, but where are the boundaries of the Captains authority when it comes to Police Officers? State officers? Federal? What control does he have over the people who barged on to his airplane?
 
Just curious, but where are the boundaries of the Captains authority when it comes to Police Officers? State officers? Federal? What control does he have over the people who barged on to his airplane?

as the joke goes...

It is everybodies airplane but the Captain's
 
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