horrific storms

[ian]

The pilot of a Newark-bound United flight delivered a chilling warning that kicked up a storm among his terrified passengers, according to a report.

He announced that the flight — which had already been delayed in Chicago two hours on Tuesday — would encounter terrible storms, including twisters, passengers told NJ.com.

“He seemed angry,” said Pamela Kent, a Princeton resident who was traveling with her daughter Jessica. “He said, ‘We’re going to be flying through horrific storms, including tornadoes.’”

Adding to the apocalyptic atmosphere, the pilot also instructed passengers on the overbooked flight to “get to know your neighbors,” Kent said.

The pilot then returned to the cockpit and closed the door, she added.

The passengers were so terrified that a flight attendant made an announcement to try to allay fears blowing through the cabin — saying the pilot didn’t mean it would be unsafe to fly.

There were tornado warnings across Warren County in New Jersey and in parts of Pennsylvania late Tuesday as heavy rain pummeled the mid-Atlantic region.

When the plane finally prepared to taxi, the pilot got back on the intercom to notify the passengers that the plane had to return to the gate because of a maintenance issue, Kent said.

That was the last straw for about 50 passengers, including Kent, who demanded to be let off to seek alternate ways to reach Newark.

“It was a general feeling of being rattled,” she said. “You want a pilot to have confidence. There was not that feeling.”

By then, the crew also had “timed out” of their shift and had to be replaced, NJ.comreported.

The 5:54 p.m. flight finally took off at 1:14 a.m. Wednesday and landed in Newark at 3:58 a.m.

United Airlines said it was looking into the incident.

“We would never put our crew or our passengers in a situation where it was unsafe to fly,” airline spokeswoman Natalie Noonan said. “The safety of the passengers and the crew is always our No. 1 priority.”

http://nypost.com/2017/08/24/pilot-freaks-out-passengers-with-horrific-tornado-warning/

 

[skypilot6]

 

[MikeD]

Anyone end up getting dragged down the aisle by their feet and tossed out onto the jetway, per United's OpsSpecs?

 

[SeanD]

Im not sure if this pilot is a dbag or a complete genius. We have 30 min to get wheels up or its off to the hotel for the night. How can we create a delay that would waste time and not be put on us?

 

[azmedic]

Im not sure if this pilot is a dbag or a complete genius. We have 30 min to get wheels up or its off to the hotel for the night. How can we create a delay that would waste time and not be put on us.

Those sudden MX issues that come up while holding short never seem to clear right away...I'm going with genius.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NovemberEcho]

I remember those storms. There's one particular UAL pilot I have a bone to pick with. Everyone behind him should to cause he's what made me say it's done and put ZDC into a hold and shut the door.

 

[mikecweb]

I remember those storms. There's one particular UAL pilot I have a bone to pick with. Everyone behind him should to cause he's what made me say it's done and put ZDC into a hold and shut the door.

Because he didn't want to takeoff into a storm?

 

[NovemberEcho]

Because he didn't want to takeoff into a storm?

No, because he didn't want to fly through the gap that I had taken everyone else through and the guy 10 miles in front of him was reporting VMC. Instead he demanded to fly 20 miles (over JFK) before turning north. I said no and if he didn't want to go the same way as everyone else reporting VMC he could go back to center and work out his divert.

Edit: I wasn't referring to the pilot in the article, rather the storms in the article in my original post

 

[SeanD]

No, because he didn't want to fly through the gap that I had taken everyone else through and the guy 10 miles in front of him was reporting VMC. Instead he demanded to fly 20 miles (over JFK) before turning north. I said no and if he didn't want to go the same way as everyone else reporting VMC he could go back to center and work out his divert.

Edit: I wasn't referring to the pilot in the article, rather the storms in the article in my original post

That crap can close up pretty damn quick though or he is just one of those ultra careful types. Not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[NovemberEcho]

That crap can close up pretty damn quick though.

The aircraft in front reporting VMC was 10 miles in front of him but only 3 miles into any precipitation that i was painting. Regardless, if you're landing EWR don't get mad if I don't let you through the LGA and JFK finals and departures to get there.

 

[mikecweb]

No, because he didn't want to fly through the gap that I had taken everyone else through and the guy 10 miles in front of him was reporting VMC. Instead he demanded to fly 20 miles (over JFK) before turning north. I said no and if he didn't want to go the same way as everyone else reporting VMC he could go back to center and work out his divert.

Edit: I wasn't referring to the pilot in the article, rather the storms in the article in my original post

Sorry your "call on the landline" was stressful but I'll be damned to judge a pilot with a radar that says nope I'm not taking a 150 people through that.

 

[jtrain609]

No, because he didn't want to fly through the gap that I had taken everyone else through and the guy 10 miles in front of him was reporting VMC. Instead he demanded to fly 20 miles (over JFK) before turning north. I said no and if he didn't want to go the same way as everyone else reporting VMC he could go back to center and work out his divert.

Edit: I wasn't referring to the pilot in the article, rather the storms in the article in my original post

You'd be surprised how quickly those VMC holes can close up. Eventually someone isn't going to get through.

 

[mshunter]

"By then the crew had 'timed out'".

Sounds like a p.o.'ed captain had a fight with crew scheduling about "this isn't going to work", and took it out on the PA. Then, they ended up having a MX issue, and "he showed them!"

 

[T/O w/FSII]

No, because he didn't want to fly through the gap that I had taken everyone else through and the guy 10 miles in front of him was reporting VMC. Instead he demanded to fly 20 miles (over JFK) before turning north. I said no and if he didn't want to go the same way as everyone else reporting VMC he could go back to center and work out his divert.

Edit: I wasn't referring to the pilot in the article, rather the storms in the article in my original post

Dang. It must suck to be a controller and not be able to control pilots.

Feel free to question pilots who have a front row view of Mother Nature while you sit in a windowless building though. Let me know how that works out for you.

 

[SeanD]

The aircraft in front reporting VMC was 10 miles in front of him but only 3 miles into any precipitation that i was painting. Regardless, if you're landing EWR don't get mad if I don't let you through the LGA and JFK finals and departures to get there.

That's good to know but it really doesn't mean much.

 

[NovemberEcho]

Ok. So he didn't want to fly through the gap. No problem. But don't cop an attitude with me for saying you can't go the way you want to go either. And no, it wasn't his attitude that made me turn him around and not let anyone else through.

 

[ian]

No, because he didn't want to fly through the gap that I had taken everyone else through and the guy 10 miles in front of him was reporting VMC. Instead he demanded to fly 20 miles (over JFK) before turning north. I said no and if he didn't want to go the same way as everyone else reporting VMC he could go back to center and work out his divert.

Edit: I wasn't referring to the pilot in the article, rather the storms in the article in my original post

yeah um, you are the one in the wrong here.

 

[NovemberEcho]

yeah um, you are the one in the wrong here.

How am I in the wrong? Ok I admit my description of the events was a bit more abrupt than what actually happened and he copped attitude with me before I ever did with him.

 

[ian]

How am I in the wrong? Ok I admit my description of the events was a bit more abrupt than what actually happened and he copped attitude with me before I ever did with him.

because you think you know best compared to the guy up there who is actually staring at it vs your radar.

 

[NovemberEcho]

because you think you know best compared to the guy up there who is actually staring at it vs your radar.

I said I was taking him where everyone else went and reported VMC. He said no he was going this way. I said no he can't go that way. He said well that's the way he's going to go. I said no it's not and sent him back the way he came. So yeah, considering where he did want to go, id say I knew best.