Passengers Aboard Flight Delayed 18 Hours

In message , at 13:39:31 on
Fri, 31 Dec 2004, "Clark W. Griswold, Jr."
remarked:
The main delay seems to have been getting the new crew to the rural
airport, rather than sitting around wondering when Seattle airport was
going to open.

That's an airline issue though - not an immigration check delay. Which gets back
to my original point. NWA, of all airlines, should have been better prepared
with procedures in place to deal with passengers locked up in an aircraft for
hours on end.

I agree, but these large delays seem to occur regularly [1]. They
probably get reported only when there's the additional "quarantine"
factor caused by immigration rules.

[1] And not just planes, Eurostar trains from Paris to London have had
similar extended imprisonments of the passengers when technical faults
have happened at an inconvenient place.
--
Roland Perry

Adam Weiss wrote:
I'd suspect that had the flight originated somewhere else - Toronto
Canada perhaps, or maybe Frankfurt Germany, the rules might have been
bent to allow passengers off the plane and processed in some manner.

If it had originated in Toronto, no processing would have been required at
all, because the passengers would have been handled prior to departure.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

Adam Weiss wrote:
I'd suspect that had the flight originated somewhere else - Toronto
Canada perhaps, or maybe Frankfurt Germany, the rules might have been
bent to allow passengers off the plane and processed in some manner.

If it had originated in Toronto, no processing would have been required at
all, because the passengers would have been handled prior to departure.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

Roland Perry wrote:
Dennis G. Rears remarked:
Is this true? In Nov, 1999 I flew from AKL-LAX. Because of mechanical
problems prior to the flight we had to divert to HNL for a replacement crew.
They announced this before we took off. Evidently the crew had/would had
exceeded FAA regulations for crew rest. We were on the ground for at least
90 minutes. In addition to a new crew, we were refueled, had garbage
removed and ore food brought in. We were not allowed off the plane.

So there was no passenger landfall.

On China Airlines' TPE-JFK the plane would stop in ANC for an hour or so,
and people would mill around the airport duty-free shops staffed exclusively
by sleepy-looking Asians.

I haven't done that since 1998, though - maybe things have changed.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu

"Malcolm Weir" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 13:32:52 -0000, "JohnT"
wrote:

[ Snip ]

Isn't it likely that many of the occupants of the aircraft were
citizens
of the USA? And, if so, don't they have the right of entry to the
United
States?

Of course.

Now, prove that you have the right...

That's the problem.

It is no problem at all. They have US Passports. That proves their right
to re-enter their Countru of citizenship.

JohnT

"Malcolm Weir" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 13:32:52 -0000, "JohnT"
wrote:

[ Snip ]

Isn't it likely that many of the occupants of the aircraft were
citizens
of the USA? And, if so, don't they have the right of entry to the
United
States?

Of course.

Now, prove that you have the right...

That's the problem.

It is no problem at all. They have US Passports. That proves their right
to re-enter their Countru of citizenship.

JohnT

In message , at 09:12:23 on Sat, 1 Jan
2005, JohnT remarked:
Isn't it likely that many of the occupants of the aircraft were
citizens
of the USA? And, if so, don't they have the right of entry to the
United
States?

Of course.

Now, prove that you have the right...

That's the problem.

It is no problem at all. They have US Passports. That proves their right
to re-enter their Countru of citizenship.

The problem is finding someone suitably qualified to verify that they do
indeed have valid passports. And although most will qualify for entry to
the country, some may have outstanding arrest warrants, and so on, and
will need dealing with appropriately.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 09:12:23 on Sat, 1 Jan
2005, JohnT remarked:
Isn't it likely that many of the occupants of the aircraft were
citizens
of the USA? And, if so, don't they have the right of entry to the
United
States?

Of course.

Now, prove that you have the right...

That's the problem.

It is no problem at all. They have US Passports. That proves their right
to re-enter their Countru of citizenship.

The problem is finding someone suitably qualified to verify that they do
indeed have valid passports. And although most will qualify for entry to
the country, some may have outstanding arrest warrants, and so on, and
will need dealing with appropriately.
--
Roland Perry

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
.uk...
In message , at 09:12:23 on Sat, 1 Jan
2005, JohnT remarked:
Isn't it likely that many of the occupants of the aircraft were
citizens
of the USA? And, if so, don't they have the right of entry to the
United
States?

Of course.

Now, prove that you have the right...

That's the problem.

It is no problem at all. They have US Passports. That proves their
right
to re-enter their Countru of citizenship.

The problem is finding someone suitably qualified to verify that they
do indeed have valid passports. And although most will qualify for
entry to the country, some may have outstanding arrest warrants, and so
on, and will need dealing with appropriately.
--
Roland Perry

The validity of their Passports was checked by Airline staff at AMS.
Their details were passed in advance to the US Dept of Homeland Security
in advance. All they need to do, surely, is to show their (US) Passports
to (for example) the Director of Cabin Services. If NW refuse to let US
Citizens deplane in their legal Country of residence then surely they are
very vulnerable to litigation by aggrieved Americans.

JohnT

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
.uk...
In message , at 09:12:23 on Sat, 1 Jan
2005, JohnT remarked:
Isn't it likely that many of the occupants of the aircraft were
citizens
of the USA? And, if so, don't they have the right of entry to the
United
States?

Of course.

Now, prove that you have the right...

That's the problem.

It is no problem at all. They have US Passports. That proves their
right
to re-enter their Countru of citizenship.

The problem is finding someone suitably qualified to verify that they
do indeed have valid passports. And although most will qualify for
entry to the country, some may have outstanding arrest warrants, and so
on, and will need dealing with appropriately.
--
Roland Perry

The validity of their Passports was checked by Airline staff at AMS.
Their details were passed in advance to the US Dept of Homeland Security
in advance. All they need to do, surely, is to show their (US) Passports
to (for example) the Director of Cabin Services. If NW refuse to let US
Citizens deplane in their legal Country of residence then surely they are
very vulnerable to litigation by aggrieved Americans.

JohnT