Flight 0538 Leaving Las Vegas:American AirlinesFeb 27 '01 (Updated Sep 15 '01) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line The bottom line: I am very glad to be alive. My anger toward American Airlines can't be expressed adequately. Please note: On July 25 I wrote a review giving American Airlines a 4 star rating. I will direct people to this review so they can see the best and worst of American Airlines. The following letter is being mailed: Ms. Annette Dickerson Customer Relations American Airlines, Inc. PO Box 619612 DFW, TX 75261-9612 RE: Flight 9538 leaving Las Vegas at 7:05 am on 2/26/01 to Chicago Dear Ms. Dickerson: On February 26, 2001 we planned on leaving Las Vegas for Chicago at 7:05am with a connection onto Boston. The first delay came with an announcement that some part of the engine cover had to be fixed. The second announcement reassured us that it had been fixed and the pilot was waiting for the Federation Aviation Agency to sign off on the paperwork. The third delay came with an attempt at fixing one of the two non-working lavatories. To add frosting to the cake one flight attendant was not on board because whether conditions prevented her from getting to work! I asked a flight attendant if we could get off and was told that all flights were totally full and we wouldn’t be able to get out of Las Vegas until late in the evening. Knowing my husband needed to be at work the next day I sat tight leaving Las Vegas one and half hours behind schedule. We knew, as most passengers with connections knew, that we would miss our connection but we were told that the airlines was working on other flights for us. We were told that there would be people meeting us in Chicago to get us on another flight. As we approached Chicago, the pilot listed the connections and the gates. It appeared our 1:35pm flight to Boston was also delayed and we would get on it! A moment later we couldn’t see land any more. Chicago had been visible and wasn’t any more. The pilot once again came on and said that there was another delay. The flaps that stop the plane when it lands wouldn’t come down or open up; I’m not sure what the correct term is. All I know is that whatever stops the plane when it hits the runway wasn’t working. He said we were to take emergency measures and outlined them with the flight attendants attempting to reassure passengers and showing the correct crouch position. We were told to take off anything sharp so the evacuation shoot wouldn’t get ripped. We were told to exit through the nearest emergency exit if possible. We were told to take nothing with us. We were told that there were emergency vehicles on the ground waiting for us. We were told to take off our glasses and make sure nothing was loose. We were told to prepare for evacuation, to get away from the plane as fast as we could and most important to stay in the crouch position when the captain told us to. We were braced for impact, an explosion, injury and possibly death. I am writing this so obviously the news was good! Either the flaps opened on impact of landing or the wheels did the braking. I don’t know. I may never know. I don’t know if I want to know. The plane stopped and many people hoorayed and clapped. I burst into tears, as did others. We were ok. There was no fire, though the pilot came on and said that we would have to stay on this special airstrip while the fire department looked at the wheels to determine if it was safe to taxi over to the gate. We finally were able to get off the plane. No one was there to take us to our connecting flights! No one was there to ask if we were all right! Of course it was long passed 1:35 so the plane that may have been delayed and still at the gate ½ hour before had most certainly left by now. There was no one waiting to calm us down. No one there to ask if we wanted to stay at a hotel rather than immediately boarding another plane. I and others felt as if we had been through a traumatic experience and expected to see airline officials. No one, nothing, we were amazed. My husband and I took off to try to get on a flight to Boston in spite of my apprehension of getting right back on another plane. I had thoughts of renting a car and driving home. On our own, we found a 2:30 flight to Boston that we went running to as did several other passengers from our Las Vegas flight. Why hadn’t anyone told us that there was a 2:30 flight that we could get on and that we didn’t have to run for it after our ordeal? We had 10 minutes; we could have walked to the gate! I didn’t believe that other American Airline staff hadn’t heard about the plane coming in from Las Vegas in distress. Were they lying to us? Again I will never know. It just doesn’t seem possible that a plane lands without braking devices with full emergency procedures in effect and no one knew. I has told a flight attendant when we first boarded the 2:30 flight to Boston about our ordeal. She was surprised also by the lack of attention and came back to our seats a few moments later and said an official would meet us in Boston. That felt better. At least we would get acknowledgment that having to prepare for an emergency evacuation wasn’t an every day occurrence. In fact one woman from our flight who was going to Boston got off the plane being too nervous to fly so soon. We were once again delayed in Chicago due to weather conditions everywhere and the pilot offered to answer any questions we may have about the weather. I immediately went to him, obviously upset. It was then he realized that he had several passengers from the Las Vegas flight on his plane and we were nervous. He reassured me that though it was windy in Boston, other than a few bumps, the flight would be fine. I’m sure the Las Vegas pilot thought the same thing. We had an uneventful trip to Boston and no one was there to talk with us! I know it is safer to fly than to drive. There is something so much scarier though when you are up 35,000 feet in the air with a hundred other people at the mercy of the weather, other planes and 2 pilots. I will continue to fly of course. I have too many places to visit. Whether I will ever fly American Airlines again is certainly in question. Not because of the almost catastrophe as much as the total lack of understanding of it by American Airline personnel. I am sure others are feeling the same way. I spoke with Michael Ocallahan, a supervisor at Logan airport in Boston, and he agreed that communication had certainly been dropped and that you would want to know about this. He told me that you would be aware of it when the pilot filled out his report but that writing to you would be a good idea, not just for me but for other passengers who may not have the skills to write a letter or are too distraught to. I appreciate your time. I realize this letter is lengthy. Sincerely.... This is the first in a series about my recent trip to Las Vegas. To read other articles, here are the urls: http://www.epinions.com/content_11230219908 (The Luxor Hotel) http://www.epinions.com/content_11230219908 (The Pontiac Sunfire we rented) http://www.epinions.com/content_12219616900 (Valley of Fire) http://jobythebay.epinions.com/content_12510137988 (Tropicana Casino  |
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