Latest news with #aircrew
Daily Mail
18-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Pregnant woman with seafood allergy forced off plane over tuna dish on in-flight menu after air steward said he 'wouldn't be dictated to'
A pregnant woman with a seafood allergy says she was forced off a plane after an air steward refused to stop selling a tuna dish on the in-flight menu and told her he 'wouldn't be dictated to'. Abbey Holling and her mother were left stranded in Corfu after 'vile' easyJet staff allegedly ignored her concerns about her life-threatening airborne allergy before 'belittling' them in front of the entire plane. In a post on Facebook detailing her ordeal, Ms Holling, 24, said an air steward told her he was refusing to stop selling products with tuna in them, adding: 'I've been working since 4:00. I have a Tuna salad I want to eat so I will be eating that.' A video filmed by a fellow passenger showed how one of the air crew told Ms Holling: 'We are legally entitled to a meal break and I won't have customers dictate to me what I can or can't eat.' She now worries the incident has 'caused strain and stress on my pregnancy', adding staff made her feel 'vulnerable' and 'sick to my stomach'. The chaos unfolded on a plane from the Greek island to Manchester on Tuesday evening. Ms Holling said she had informed easyJet prior to the flight about her allergies, although the airline disputes this. It has reimbursed her for extra costs incurred as a result of the incident and is investigating, a spokesperson said. She described initially being 'reassured' by a member of the crew who told her no products containing sea food would be sold during the flight. But a second member of staff then approached her and her mother and said the products would in fact be sold. After asking to speak to the in-flight manager, who Ms Holling described as 'vile', she said she informed him that she was at risk of death if the products were sold on the flight. She claims she even offered to buy all the affected products to avoid any loss of revenue to the airline, but says this was also refused. The plane was then turned around so the pair could disembark from the plane, but Ms Holling accused the manager of further 'belittling' them by refusing to tell fellow passengers the cause of the delay. 'He announced it over the speaker saying 'we are turning this around because two people don't want to fly with us' tonight,' she said. 'He didn't explain why I couldn't be on the flight and so everyone began booing, swearing, tutting, and making us feel uncomfortable.' Ms Holling and her mother were eventually able to travel back to the UK on Thursday, two days later than planned. She said that once they were ready to disembark the plane, one of the pilots made an announcement, saying: 'The reason we are delayed is because we won't stop selling Tuna sandwiches.' A spokesperson for easyJet told the BBC that 'safety is our highest priority'. They added: 'As Ms Holling only notified us of her tuna allergy once on board and subsequently did not travel, we are looking into how this was managed onboard. 'We have been in touch with her to apologise and understand more about her experience, and reimburse her alternative travel expenses.'
Telegraph
05-07-2025
- Climate
- Telegraph
Abandoning a multimillion-pound stealth jumpjet in India isn't a good look
Shipborne aviation is a tricky business even in peacetime. Landing a helicopter, even though it can hover, on a ship, is by no means simple – especially if it's not a big ship. In my old life, watching a 13-ton Merlin helicopter land on a heaving frigate flight deck at night, with literally feet to spare between the rotors and the hangar, made me glad the pilot got paid more. Landing a fixed wing jet, even if it's an F-35B and does also have a limited ability to hover, on a ship, is always very difficult and involves quite a lot of danger. Even the US Navy, masters of all things carrier aviation, can still learn the hard way. A US carrier recently made a hard turn under missile attack in the Red Sea. An F-18 was being towed by tractor on deck, with sailors driving both the tractor and the jet: as the ship heeled, both began skidding unstoppably towards the deck edge. The sailors managed to jump out, but the fighter and the tractor both went into the sea. This stuff is hard. My feeling of being glad the aircrew get paid more didn't last. In too many cases it isn't true over time: aviators and mine clearance divers in the Royal Navy, both of which groups receive extra pay, both have the same joke. 'We don't get paid more, we just get paid faster.' If the weather is really bad, even at a normal air base or airport ashore, things get worse. If you're trying to land that helicopter or fixed wing jet in bad weather at sea, they get hugely worse as the thing you are trying to land on is rocking and rolling and the deck is wet and slippery. It's much worse still at night. This was the situation now more than two weeks ago, when a pilot from 809 Naval Air Squadron was attempting to get an F-35B fifth generation stealth fighter back aboard the carrier HMS Prince of Wales. The weather was simply too bad, and – as is not unheard of in peacetime naval aviation – the decision was taken for the jet to divert to an airfield ashore. Ships may send out their aircraft without any diversion option – often there is simply no friendly place to land, for instance during pretty much the whole of the Falklands campaign – but especially in peacetime we try to have a backup plan. The F-35B got on the ground safely at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on the southwestern tip of India. But it then developed a fault which is yet to be fixed, and the jet is still sitting there, cutting an increasingly forlorn figure. It's now been long enough for the 'you can't park there mate' quips to have been and gone, replaced with memes from the local tourism industry about why 'Kerala is such an amazing place, I don't want to leave'. This situation doesn't really surprise me. Two things always got my particular attention in my old life during the rigorous pre-flight briefings. As captain of the ship, I was the man who decided go or no-go. The first thing I didn't like was if there was no diversion-to-shore option. The second second was if the aircraft was going to have to shut down once feet-dry (ashore). There isn't a huge amount you can do about the first other than keep a beady eye on the weather forecast and make sure the deck remains clear throughout, but the second one always made me nervous. In my mid-career we had a Lynx helicopter, a small and usually reliable aircraft. But it didn't like starting up on someone else's patch. Wherever possible the pilot would keep the engine running, perhaps for a long time, so as not to take the risk of winding up stuck ashore. Planning and executing sorties from sea is therefore something that needs to be practiced until you are blue in the face, then practiced some more. It's one of the reasons that HMS Prince of Wales, her escorts and some 4,500 people are far away doing what they do. You can only simulate, wargame and train so much; eventually you have to get to sea and pressure test all the moving parts for real. Doing it at distance from the UK teaches lessons too. It's the only way you can learn and then build in resilience for combat operations. Hopefully all this paints a picture as to why this F-35 is now stuck in Kerala. Jets are not cars – they are complex and they break down. Sometimes they can't be fixed with what you have on the ship, or what you can fly ashore in a helicopter. In this case, it sounds like the jet developed a hydraulic issue of some sort. I'm not a pilot but I have been around maritime aviation long enough to know this is a defect that rarely ends well. We will need the investigation to know for sure why that jet went 'feet dry' and why it is still not returned either to the ship or the UK. The safety of the aircraft and pilot would have trumped potential embarrassment or politics. And with Kerala within range, they took the decision to land there. On landing and since then, the Indian authorities have been providing first class support where needed and perimeter security. Conspiracy theories that they could reverse engineer the technology are incorrect and the jet is safe. Having said all that, our international relations with India are complicated just now. There is always a political element to these things. Personally, I would have moved heaven and earth to get that plane fixed and either back to the ship or back to the UK, for three reasons. First, it minimises embarrassment which is there, no matter how we wish it wasn't. Second, it reduces our dependence on India, which will always come with a political price-tag. Third, and most importantly, because we should train as we mean to fight. We should have simulated needing that jet for combat tasking right away and pressure tested every system, including the Treasury, to make it so. I would have also communicated loud and clear what the plan was to minimise both doubt and further embarrassment. Instead there has been silence from the British government. For me it feels as though we have not been aggressive enough in the rectification of the jet or at least its removal from India. On the plus side, none of this is new. In 1983, a Sea Harrier pilot operating off Portugal found himself unable to locate HMS Illustrious and then got so low on fuel that landing ashore was no longer an option. Rather than eject and lose the aircraft, the pilot decided to land on the container ship Alraigo, with or without their permission. The landing was good, though the Harrier did slide backwards off the container it was on, suffering some damage. Red faces and salvage claims swiftly followed, though it should be noted that the jet returned to service and was later converted to the FA2 standard. Aviation emergencies at sea are not new and they are always complex, expensive and occasionally embarrassing. This one in India is no different.
News.com.au
02-06-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Flight attendant found naked, dancing in bathroom after going missing
A British Airways crew member was found dancing naked in a business class toilet at 30,000ft. The steward is suspected of using drugs before the incident, which happened as he was supposed to be serving an in-flight meal. Colleagues searched the aircraft when he went missing as they handed out food and drinks on the busy jet to London's Heathrow from the US. The in-flight crew boss was then stunned to find him completely naked and jigging up and down in the Club World cabin loo. He was bundled into a spare pair of pyjamas reserved for First Class passengers on the flight from San Francisco. The steward was then escorted to the First Class cabin, where he was buckled into a luxury seat for the remainder of the ten-and-a-half hour journey. BA bosses alerted police, who met the double-decker Airbus A380-800 on landing at 11am loca; time last Sunday to arrest him. He also received medical attention and was taken from the plane — which had around 470 passengers and crew on board — in a wheelchair. Angry crew members had to work the entire flight without breaks to cover for him. The steward was suspended from duty while investigations continue. One worker said: 'We think the guy popped pills when he was meant to be working. It is an extraordinary thing to do. 'The plane was cruising at 37,000ft over the Atlantic, but this bloke seemed to be higher than anyone else. 'Rather than asking passengers 'chicken or beef', he was stripping off and dancing in the toilet. It was a long time before he was located and he was completely out of it. 'Not only is it really dangerous, it is a crazy way to end your BA career. This job can do ridiculous things to people, but staging a one-man disco in a Club World toilet is a new one on me.' British Airways said it is a police matter. Scotland Yard was approached for comment.
The Sun
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Idiot passengers who stand up on flights before seatbelt sign is turned off now face £53 fine
PASSENGERS face new fines for unbuckling their seatbelts and standing up from their seats on planes, before air stewards have said they can do so. Turkey is now planning to fine anyone £53 who it catches doing this - with immediate effect. 3 3 So-called unbucklers ignore flight attendants and will take off their seatbelts, stand and try to get their luggage as soon as the plane has landed. But the new rule, enforced by Turkey's aviation authority, aims to curb this with airlines instructed to report on non-compliance and fines to be issued on the spot. The regulation is effective immediately and is now active and enforced across all Turkish airports, regardless of carrier or flight class. The passenger habit is actually against the rules of the sky - it is treated as an official breach of aviation safety. The extreme measure follows increasing concern over in-flight safety and post-landing order. The authorities are hoping that the fine will act as a deterrent for impatient passengers and force them to remain seated until the aircraft has parked safely. They have also emphasised that rushing to the plane aisle - even when the seatbelt light is off - can cause injuries, get in the way of the air crew and slow down getting off the plane. As the peak tourism season picks up and airports see more travellers, the authorities have stressed that cabin behaviour is now a top priority. For Brits head off to Turkish resorts or friends on stag and hen do's, there can be no rushing to get up and grab you bag full of summer clothes, unless you want to pay the fine - and ultimately, still wait to get off the plane. Brits are among the largest groups of tourists heading to Turkey each year. Travelers have only days before May 23 'flight switch' rule ends – you face long delays if you don't act immediately In 2023, more than 3.7 million UK travellers entered Turkey for holidays, beach breaks, and cultural escapes, according to Travel and Tour World. Airlines are now legally required to make announcements reminding passengers to remain seated not only during landing but also until the plane has reached its final stop. In addition, they must also tell passengers of the fines they could get for breaking any rules. Cabin crew will also have the additional task of report passengers who then break these rules. Hence the enforcement isn't optional and passengers won't just get a warning, it is mandatory and they will be fined if caught. If you want to keep your money in your pocket, simply just stay seated until you are told you can stand. Nine UK airports have also scrapped strict hand luggage rules. Plus, a flight attendant shares three crucial rules to protect yourself in severe turbulence. 3
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Families of the fallen Westover based air crew return to memorial site 36 years later
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) – The families of the fallen crewmen were back at the memorial site at Skinner State Park Friday evening. Their visit marks the first time back since 1989. Some of them traveled from as far as Washington State and New Jersey. May 27th will mark 81 years since a Westover-based air crew with 10 aboard a B-24 crashed shortly after takeoff during a training exercise. The crash took place on the South Hadley side of Mt. Holyoke. All ten service members of the United States Air Force were killed. 'I can remember my first grade in school. One of my classmates asked me why my father wasn't there, and that was the first time I asked my mom why I didn't have a father,' shared Clyde Dechert, Son of Sgt. Wilburn H. Dechert. 2nd Lieutenant Talbot Malcom Jr's family was also in attendance, 'I'm honored to come and represent our family with Laurie and my daughter-in-law Jenn,' shared Valerie Macfie. Some of the men who dedicated their lives to service were as young as 21 years old during the time of the crash.'He's always been a picture and a name, but when this happened here, this monument was put up…this brought closure, and it also brought in a weird way some of him back to life,' shared Clyde Dechert, Son of Sgt. Wilburn H. Dechert. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
