Leaving Las Vegas -Flight from Heck!

[geoffil]

My family returned home from Las Vegas on Thursday with one of my worst flights ever! After we took off from Las Vegas at 1 PM (LV time) and started our ascent, I had the worst ear ache. My ears were so painful and then all of a sudden the cabin filled with really, really hot air. Finally after about 20 minutes of feeling like the captain forgot to pressurize the cabin, he came on to say that we lost cabin pressure and we had to make an emergency landing back in Las Vegas. As we landed we were met by 4 firetrucks with sirens blaring. The pilot said not to worry, it was just in case the brakes malfunctioned because we were too heavy. So we get off the plane and re-board an hour later. We had to make an unscheduled landing in St. Louis because of the closed airports in Chicago due to weather. We sat on the runway with no air conditioning for 3 hours. We weren't allowed to get off the plane. We landed in Chicago at 130 AM, 10.5 hours since we left Las Vegas. I was starving, but all the snack bars were closed at Midway. The only good thing was no traffic on the ride back home.

[ulysses5019]

My family returned home from Las Vegas on Thursday with one of my worst flights ever! After we took off from Las Vegas at 1 PM (LV time) and started our ascent, I had the worst ear ache. My ears were so painful and then all of a sudden the cabin filled with really, really hot air. Finally after about 20 minutes of feeling like the captain forgot to pressurize the cabin, he came on to say that we lost cabin pressure and we had to make an emergency landing back in Las Vegas. As we landed we were met by 4 firetrucks with sirens blaring. The pilot said not to worry, it was just in case the brakes malfunctioned because we were too heavy. So we get off the plane and re-board an hour later. We had to make an unscheduled landing in St. Louis because of the closed airports in Chicago due to weather. We sat on the runway with no air conditioning for 3 hours. We weren't allowed to get off the plane. We landed in Chicago at 130 AM, 10.5 hours since we left Las Vegas. I was starving, but all the snack bars were closed at Midway. The only good thing was no traffic on the ride back home.

And the loser airline company was..........

[geoffil]

Southwest.

[frogman042]

I assume that you do know that any flight that doesn't end in an explosion or a ball of flames, is basically a good flight.

---Jay(Number of days to go == Number of layers in a Big Mac == Number of Stars on Ol' Glory)

[ulysses5019]

I assume that you do know that any flight that doesn't end in an explosion or a ball of flames, is basically a good flight.

---Jay(Number of days to go == Number of layers in a Big Mac == Number of Stars on Ol' Glory)

Or with a styrofoam package of poop......

[geoffil]

The only thing I had to eat for 12 hours was the huge bag of pretzels Soutwest gives to all passengers. Another bad part was the 2 sick guys coughing behind me. That was fun.

Does anyone know the rules about keeping passengers on a plane sitting on the runway for hours and hours? I wanted to just get off and they said noone can get off.

[silverscreenselect]

---Jay(Number of days to go == Number of layers in a Big Mac == Number of Stars on Ol' Glory)

I know how many rows of stars there are on Ol' Glory.....

[MarleysGh0st]

I assume that you do know that any flight that doesn't end in an explosion or a ball of flames, is basically a good flight.

I'm shocked that none of the airlines include this rule in their advertising.

[Bob Juch]

The only thing I had to eat for 12 hours was the huge bag of pretzels Soutwest gives to all passengers. Another bad part was the 2 sick guys coughing behind me. That was fun.

Does anyone know the rules about keeping passengers on a plane sitting on the runway for hours and hours? I wanted to just get off and they said noone can get off.

There is no rule. After Jet Blue held a plane-full of passengers prisoner for over ten hours last year, they instituted an airline policy that after four hours they'd let the passengers know the status.

[marrymeflyfree]

Does anyone know the rules about keeping passengers on a plane sitting on the runway for hours and hours? I wanted to just get off and they said noone can get off.

There are no rules about that which apply to all airlines, though some have internal guidelines.

They probably had no available gate at the St Louis airport to let people off...and of course doing so would have delayed the flight that much longer. In a very bad situation, airstairs could probably have been brought to the plane...but arranging it is tricky in the absence of an emergency.

If you were to write a letter to SWA about your trip, I would suggest focusing on the lack of air conditioning. Maintenance issues happen...weather can't be controlled...they don't serve food and have no control over whether or not Midway's vendors stay open for late-arriving passengers. But. They can control other passenger comfort measures like air conditioning. Ground AC spends a lot of fuel...aka, a lot of $$. The captain obviously elected not to run it during your ground delay; these days management puts out a lot of directives and guidelines encouraging 'conservation'. But given the circumstance of all the other issues combined, he/she should have run it anyway.

[ulysses5019]

Where's tubadave?

[silvercamaro]

The only thing I had to eat for 12 hours was the huge bag of pretzels Soutwest gives to all passengers.

You got pretzels?



I've been on flights when I would have killed -- or paid big bucks -- for pretzels, or even the crumbs and dust from the bottom of an empty bag of Goldfish.

On my worst return trip ever (although the "there" part of the trip was fabu,) I encountered a young just-married couple who hadn't eaten for something like 20 hours. As a wedding present, I gave them the granola bar I'd stashed in my carryon. They were sincerely thrilled.

[AlphaDummy]

Another bad part was the 2 sick guys coughing behind me. That was fun.

Who needs in-flight moviies???

Sounds ugly...glad you got home in one piece!

[ne1410s]

sc:

As a wedding present, I gave them the granola bar I'd stashed in my carryon. They were sincerely thrilled.

You know very well that if you feed them they will follow you home...

[frogman042]

I assume that you do know that any flight that doesn't end in an explosion or a ball of flames, is basically a good flight.

I'm shocked that none of the airlines include this rule in their advertising.

Which reminds me of an old Mad Magazine bit (one of the many, many they did on advertising) that went something like: "Mr. Chipper Chocolate Chip Cookies - No one has ever died from eating OUR cookies!"

Also, on the same day as geoffil, I ended up being stuck also on the runway for hours in Miami (I had the misfortune of trying to get back to Austin via Chicago) - so I can actually sympathize. Anyway I've been in a lot of airports, both big and small, but I thought that MIA was one of the worst I've even been at from lousy signage thoughout including rental car return to dirty restrooms, etc. I was amused to see a huge banner proclaiming that they won a Most Improved Airport award and couldn't help thinking that they needed to add "Imagine how much worse we sucked before!" after it.

---Jay (# of days == # of films Norma Desmond may have said "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille")

[geoffil]

Thanks for the info, MMFF. I didn't know the pilot could have turned on the AC if he felt like it. We were at a gate for about an hour, but they wouldn't let us off the plane to get something to eat.

After an hour we left the gate and went to the side of a runway and sat and sat.

Of course trying to convince my mom to do the 3 generations audition just got harder after hearing about our flight. I am still trying to get her to try out.

[frogman042]

Thanks for the info, MMFF. I didn't know the pilot could have turned on the AC if he felt like it. We were at a gate for about an hour, but they wouldn't let us off the plane to get something to eat.

After an hour we left the gate and went to the side of a runway and sat and sat.

Of course trying to convince my mom to do the 3 generations audition just got harder after hearing about our flight. I am still trying to get her to try out.

Well, you can tell them about the flight and that it aged you 3 generations. Maybe the let you count for all 3 all by yourself?

---Jay (Cheaper by dozen, my foot)

[Bob78164]

The only thing I had to eat for 12 hours was the huge bag of pretzels Soutwest gives to all passengers. Another bad part was the 2 sick guys coughing behind me. That was fun.

Does anyone know the rules about keeping passengers on a plane sitting on the runway for hours and hours? I wanted to just get off and they said noone can get off.

There are no rules. I believe that New York passed a law, and California attempted to pass one, but the courts invalidated New York's rule on the ground that it was the subject of exclusive federal regulation. --Bob

[marrymeflyfree]

Thanks for the info, MMFF. I didn't know the pilot could have turned on the AC if he felt like it. We were at a gate for about an hour, but they wouldn't let us off the plane to get something to eat.

After an hour we left the gate and went to the side of a runway and sat and sat.

Ahh, I see. Not that it will make you feel any better, but maybe I can explain why they did what they did. On your way to MDW and there's bad weather. MDW already has a bunch of planes on the ground there/in the airspace...they're slow getting off because of the weather and ramp space is close to capacity, so MDW is closed to arriving traffic until things clear up.

In the meantime, your flight holds in the air for a bit, but diverts to STL before your fuel gets too low to wait it out/gas up again.

Once on the ground, the pilots are getting fuel waiting for the 'all clear' from ATC to get going again. ATC says check back in 5 minutes for an update. That's a good sign...that things are clearing and they expect you'll be able to move very soon. Otherwise they'd have said check back in 20, 30,etc. There's no way 100+ people are going to be able to get off the plane, pee/smoke/get food/etc and back on and ready to go in 5 minutes, so they tell you this stop is just long enough to gas up and please stay on board.

They check with ATC again, and get the all clear. They push off the gate, start getting in the lineup, and MDW closes AGAIN as the weather's kicked back up. So you pull out of line and wait on the ramp. Or...ATC says check back in another 5 but be in position to go. That 5 minutes gets gradually longer and longer because the weather system that looked like it was moving on decided to just sit in the area. ATC couldn't anticipate it and thought everything would be moving again....the pilots want you in position to go as soon as you can be, so there you are. Stuck. Going back to the gate (if there even was an available gate) at that point, when you think take-off may be imminent, would have delayed the flight a LOT more because you'd lose your spot in the takeoff line.

But like I said, running the APU or engines to keep some air flowing in the cabin would have been a good idea. But it burns a lot of gas to do so, and the pilots must factor in how much fuel is spent on the ground for taxiing/AC/etc and have a certain amount left over for the flight. No one wants to use more fuel than is necessary these days, but it IS necessary in a long ground delay in the summer. Especially after also having had the inconvenience of the air return AND the discomfort of the pressurization problem. At that point, the AC becomes good PR.

Long winded, but I hope it helps to at least understand what was probably happening.

[geoffil]

MMFF,

Thanks for the explanation which makes a lot of sense. I still wish they could let those people out who want out and take their chances of getting back on. I have never had to sit on a runway in a Southwest plane before.

I am amazed at all the stuff flight attendants have to go thru and not complain. All of our FA's were cheerful and upbeat after everything.

Why did the cabin get so hot in flight when the cabin pressure failed?

[sunflower]

Always, always, always bring food on a flight no matter how long it is. I travel with my own snacks anyway because food on an airplane is unreliable and generally not healthy when it is available.

But you never know what is going to happen. You could get stuck on a runway. You could get stuck in the air circling. You could even get stuck in an airport where all the food outlets shut down. You never know what may happen...but what you do know is that airlines don't offer meals much anymore. And fuel prices are expensive. And heavier planes use more fuel. What I'm trying to say is that they scale the amount of food on the plane to what is needed for the flight. For your average 2 - 3 hour flight, that is drink service with one snack. They don't have more food on board, so if you get stuck, they don't have anything to offer. Or if they give it to you while you're sitting, they won't have it to give you once you're in the air.

I'm not defending them...it sucks. But their scaling back leads to a situation where you need to make sure you have enough food/drink for yourself if everything does not go as planned.

[marrymeflyfree]

I am amazed at all the stuff flight attendants have to go thru and not complain. All of our FA's were cheerful and upbeat after everything.

Good! I'll have to pass that along to my bud who is a FA for Southwest. He'll be happy to hear it!

Why did the cabin get so hot in flight when the cabin pressure failed?

Hrmm....well, the cabin is pressurized by compressed air coming off the engines. The pilots can control how much of it comes into the cabin, thereby pressurizing it to the desired level. Somewhere between leaving the engine and entering the cabin, that compressed air goes through the air conditioning packs; it's all tied in together. I can safely assume that you were still pretty low in altitude since the masks didn't deploy...so the air outside the plane was still hot and humid. (Well hot, at least...you were in Vegas afterall!) Had you been at cruise altitude, it would have gotten really cold.

But I'm not a pilot and don't play one on TV, so that's not a great tecnical explanation. I can ask NN about it when he gets back from Hong Kong if you want something better.

[geoffil]

We were at 10,000 ft because the pilot had just announced we could use our portable electronic devices. We went down to 7000 ft and then the ear pain ceased.

[marrymeflyfree]

We were at 10,000 ft because the pilot had just announced we could use our portable electronic devices. We went down to 7000 ft and then the ear pain ceased.

That makes sense...the cabin is usually pressurized to about 8000ft.