"In my job we told people where we were going, when we were going to be there and if things changed, they were advised to the change and the reason why. I can't remember the last time I asked the first officer if he/she thought the passengers would notice if we didn't land in Beijing on time or even land there at all, or just let them figure it out. "
It does happen...
Southwest Airlines Plane Lands At Wrong Airport, Almost Careens Off Cliff
Forbes.com
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Sky Airlines 737 Lands In A Wrong Airport
airliners.net
Massive military plane lands at wrong airport in Tampa
wtsp.com
Boeing jumbo jet takes off after landing at wrong airport
usatoday.com
As you note, the passengers weren't left standing out on the ramp on their own, wondering where they were when the flight ended, and needing to figure that out for themselves. And, the odds are that not a one of those pilots in the stories above still has a job flying the same sort of airplane today. The story here adds an X-Files dimension... as they said the flight landed 8 miles away from Schaft Creek... but ended up in Arizona ?
I guess there was something like sort of the same thing here in terms of the "free peanuts" in the dividend ?
But, here, while the passengers paid full fair for the ride... it really doesn't look like it ended up only 8 miles away... maybe took them less than half way ? They had to land and wait for a refueling... but, burned that up sitting and waiting... and had to wait for another refueling ? Otherwise, given they failed in the effort trying to convince you that while you were scheduled for a landing in B.C., ending up in the desert in Arizona was pretty much the same thing ? That didn't work too well, so, now, they're still trying to convince you that they're still circling overhead Shaft Creek... just waiting for permission to land... "any minute now"... delayed due to fog, waiting for it to clear... topped off with "two years" worth of fuel on-board now, but with flaps and gear down burning it at easily twice the advertised rate, still fully expecting that it will take another 3 to 5 years, maybe more, and they're hoping against hope that someone finds a way to change the subject before too many people begin noticing that they'll run out of fuel long before that... and, yep... it turns out you really were still stuck in Arizona the whole time. |
