TheBanyanTree: Putting a Flight on Ice

[B Drummond]

I had a unique experience this past Tuesday. 

I was on a flight from Atlanta to Miami and we had a passenger, in effect, take 
control of our flight.

That morning we had a very heavy frost, one of the heaviest I can remember 
ever having seen in the 12-plus years I've lived in this area. When our plane 
taxied out toward the runway that morning, we had frost on the wings and the 
pilot announced to the passengers that he was going to have the plane de-iced. 
He promptly put the plane in a long line of other planes attempting to have 
the same service performed on them.

Shortly after his announcement, the sun came out, shining brightly and the 
temperature outside quickly went above freezing.  The pilot took note of this 
and after another 10 minutes or so, announced that he was sending the first 
officer down the aisle to check the condition of the wings to see if the frost 
had melted. He indicated that he thought the sun coming out had melted the 
frost on the wings and it was no longer necessary to de-ice the plane. After 
the first officer looked carefully out through the plane's windows, on both sides 
of the plane directly in line with the wings, he returned to the cockpit.

The pilot shortly after announced that he was then heading for the runway as 
the first officer had given the thumbs up about the condition of the wings.  

As soon as he did a passenger pressed the flight attendant call button.  

A flight attendant promptly went to the passenger's seat, listened to the 
passenger, looked out of the windows at both wings, talked to the passenger 
some more, and then returned to her post, picking up the intercom phone and 
speaking to the cockpit. I didn't know it at the time but she conveyed to the 
pilot that the passenger she spoke to was convinced that there was still ice 
on the wings and wanted the plane to be de-iced as the pilot originally said 
he was going to do.

After a moment or two more she went to the passenger and talked to the 
passenger some more, during which the the passenger, and his female companion, 
gestured toward the wings frequently and continued arguing with the flight 
attendant about the condition of the plane's wings.  The flight attendant went 
once again to the intercom and passed on the gist of her last conversation to 
the cockpit.  After a short delay the first officer came back down the aisle, 
took long, thorough looks again through the windows that looked directly out 
over the wings, then announced aloud that the wings were free of ice and 
returned to the cockpit. 

While the first officer was returning to the cockpit, the passenger had managed 
to convince another passenger seated directly across from him that ice was 
still on the wings and that other passenger then joined in telling the flight 
attendant there was still ice on the wings. In the meantime, with such a scene 
in the cabin, most people had taken their own gander at the wings and 
virtually the only ones on the plane convinced that the first officer was wrong 
were the two passengers mentioned above.

After more discussions and attempted reasoning with the passengers who wanted 
the plane's wings de-iced, the flight attendant went back to the intercom and 
relayed the latest to the cockpit.

In a few minutes the pilot announced via the intercom that the plane was 
returning to the gate. There was a passenger onboard that wanted to deplane he 
said. "We can not legally hold a passenger hostage on a flight so we will be 
returning to the gate and will get underway shortly after this passenger has 
deplaned."

This was, of course, met with groans and complaints. We returned to the gate, 
the passenger and his female companion deplaned. The second passenger, that 
had later been convinced that there was still ice on the plane did not deplane 
but continued to stare at the wings and ask the flight attendant questions. 

We finally managed to take off over two hours behind schedule.

This was a first for me: the cockpit's judgment, in effect, overruled by a 
persistent passenger who, either in fear, ignorance, or otherwise determined 
that the plane was not safe to fly, and forced it back to the terminal.


bd
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