06 August 2011

Diverting plane, part deux

The flight was going well. I was spending time, as I often do, in the back galley chatting with the flight attendants. This crew was unique in the fact that they were 100% male. The air was smooth and a small group of passengers were back in the back, when one flight attendant, he looked to be in charge, came back and used the phone to speak to the pilot. I didn't hear what he said, but no sooner than he hung up, the fasten seatbelt sign came on. Coincidence? I didn't think so. I thought possibly he just wanted to clear the galley. I returned to my seat and a moment later, a flight attendant came to talk to the man opposite me in the aisle. Eavesdropping, I quickly learned why we were all seated. The flight attendants came to this man because they knew he was an MD. A first-class passenger pregnant with triplets had begun to bleed fairly heavily and there were concerns about her miscarrying. The girl next to me asked me what was going on. I told her and she said "oh my god, that's my boss." (note: it was actually her ex-boss, she had been fired on this trip) She then told me that the ex-boss had had problems and also a reduction surgery two weeks ago and that all of her doctors had told her NOT to travel. So, I suggested she tell this info to the doctor seated next to us who was about to go look at this woman. She did, plus she tried to go up to the ex-boss. Why? Well the ex-boss had a 1 year old daughter traveling with her. The girl next to me promptly returned, they wouldn't let her into first class. However a few minutes later the flight attendants came and got her and a few minutes after that she returned with the one year old. The *crying* one year old. We both tried to calm her. The best solution: looking at my photos of Chile on my iPad. The girl next to me comments that she's been fired but is still having to do work! Then after a bit she returned the girl. Fast forward twenty minutes and they decide they need her again up there. She leaves for first class to go amuse the one year old and comes back about 30 min later. She tells me they had been discussing diverting the plane and making an emergency landing, but decided against it. We only had 1.5 hours to go at this point. As the air actually began to get a bit bumpy, the fasten seatbelt sign was finally turned off. The doctor returned to his seat and nothing more was said until just before landing. The flight attendant came back to the girl next to me and discussed her moving to first for landing, but also told her that the paramedics would remove the ex-boss last, so she could stay in economy and just walk up as we disembarked. Bueno. We landed and most of the plane was apparently clueless to the situation and began to line the aisles. Then once the majority of the passengers were standing, they announced that we should all sit down because paramedics were coming to remove a passenger with a medical emergency. No one sat. Not a single one person. Oddly they all began to de-plane almost immediately after that announcement. The two of us waited. After a bit a flight attendant told her that the one year old was with another colleague (presumedly one not fired). In the end, I have no idea what happened to the woman. I commented to the girl next to me that maybe she'd get her job back, her response: I don't want it!
Ah adventures on an airplane.....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:British Airways Flight 69 LHR to PHL - somewhere over the Atlantic

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