V-Flyer

Anyone know why this happened:
VS5 to MIA 23/5/09 diverted to Nassau, landed 4pm,
Departed NAS 10pm landed MIA 11pm (8 hours late!)

Most likely to be a medical emergency.

quote:Originally posted by Neil
Most likely to be a medical emergency.
Unlikely as flight was on ground for 6 hours!
IF it was medical, then depending where the a/c was, original destination MIA unlikely to be any further away than NAS, & has much better medical OR aircraft maintenance facilities, though NAS might be cheaper!

There must be more to it.

Yesterday's return VS6 flight now showing departure from MIA 18:05 this evening.

I was on this flight. After circling for 30 minutes, we diverted to Nassau (Bahamas) due to severe weather. Once landed, we refuelled fairly speedily. However, paperwork delayed us beyond the legal timeframe for the crew to continue working. Eventually a new crew was flown in from Miami on a scheduled service of another airline. We finally left NAS at 22:25, landing in MIA with both crew on board at 23:05 (original ETA 15:00).

Many thanks for the first hand update, worldranger, and welcome to V-Flyer. [y][y]

There is clearly some really bad weather in and off the south east of the US as the Space Shuttle has diverted to sunny California. Link to BBC news site.

Nick

So what then happened to the passengers for VS6, scheduled departure 19:05 23rd May, actual departure 17:49 24th May, actual arrival 07:09 25th May? (Actuals delayed almost 24 hours.)

Were they:
1. Allowed to check-in as normal?
2. Accommodated overnight in an hotel?
Also,
3. At what time (local) were they told what was happening?
4. If they were found accommodation, what time did they get to it?

I have merged the two threads to make the discussion about the weather divert, and the subsequent knock on effects, easier to follow.

Nick

There's an excellent TR on the VS005 shenanigans here.

quote:Originally posted by pjh
There's an excellent TR on the VS005 shenanigans here.
That is a great report.

I'm amazed at the screw up; why Nassau - was Orlando (Virgin presence) closed? Or Hollywood/Ft Lauderdale? Or Tampa?

10 or 11 hours (after boarding) in economy is not pleasant at the best of times; I'm not sure crew & privileged passengers DO understand that. People want to get off, sometimes desperately - it's no use blaming 'unreasonable' passengers who've been stressed beyond their limits.

Also, it's not unheard of for passengers to be fobbed off with lame or indifferent excuses.
I'm not condoning passenger aggression, but we've all seen that sometimes, just sometimes, shouting does get results and that's why people do it.

The whole of Florida is getting hit with massive storms right now, in the northern part of the state there is flooding.

Today looks pretty clear in the central and eastern part of the state, the western edge around Tampa is getting hit though.

quote:Originally posted by icarus2009
quote:Originally posted by pjh
There's an excellent TR on the VS005 shenanigans here.
That is a great report.

I'm amazed at the screw up; why Nassau - was Orlando (Virgin presence) closed? Or Hollywood/Ft Lauderdale? Or Tampa?

10 or 11 hours (after boarding) in economy is not pleasant at the best of times; I'm not sure crew & privileged passengers DO understand that. People want to get off, sometimes desperately - it's no use blaming 'unreasonable' passengers who've been stressed beyond their limits.

Also, it's not unheard of for passengers to be fobbed off with lame or indifferent excuses.
I'm not condoning passenger aggression, but we've all seen that sometimes, just sometimes, shouting does get results and that's why people do it.


I'd hardly call it a 'screw up' going to NAS instrad of MCO. NAS is closer and a quick look at the weather shows MCO and Tampa in a similar state. It could have been worse with a divert to Cuba, only 236 miles away. Clearly the pilot made a decision based on time, weather, fuel load and the overall safety of the flight.

As a 'priviliged passenger' I want to get off just as soon as the person in 65G does.

Not sure how shouting would have helped when you're stuck on the ground in NAS?? The last thing Virgin would have wanted to do would have been to have to fly a crew out from Miami just to take the flight from NAS to MIA.
Virgn ops would have been doing everything they could to get the flight to depart from NAS, it's not in their interest to keep it there.
Also the Captain cant just divert to whichever other airport he feels like, he would hve been given options by atc and then he and ops would have worked out what the best option was.
I understand passengers getting frustrated, but it's just as frustrating for the crew who must have been exhausted. Unfortunately the weather is one thing that virgin cant control and sounds like the crew did a really good job given the circumstances.
The MCOs have also been diverting because of the weather.

Just to pint out the obvious, with the flight needing fuel and being diverted to NAS there is the little problem of payment.

While I do know that some airlines give there captains credit cards with very high limits for just this type of situation I do not know if VS does, so payment has to be arranged between VS and the fuel provider, this can be quick or it can take a while.

Payment shouldn't be a problem, Most airlines put fuel cards in the flight deck for most major proviers (Shell,BP,Exxon/Esso etc..) Especially as NAS and Virgin Atlantic have a history fuel payment shouldn't be a problem- as the TR mentions, refueling was done and dusted, it was the paper work that took the time. I work for an airline that does multi sector long haul and the paperwork from a domestic sector can be as extensive as a hop across the pond(having been caught up in some long paperwork delays.

quote:I'd hardly call it a 'screw up' going to NAS instrad of MCO. NAS is closer and a quick look at the weather shows MCO and Tampa in a similar state. It could have been worse with a divert to Cuba, only 236 miles away. Clearly the pilot made a decision based on time, weather, fuel load and the overall safety of the flight.

As a 'priviliged passenger' I want to get off just as soon as the person in 65G does.
With respect, the totality of what happened was a screw up. Other airlines to the area did not have such delays, and while privileged passengers may want to get off quickly, the reason they pay the premium for PE or UC is to avoid the discomfort of those in economy.

quote:Not sure how shouting would have helped when you're stuck on the ground in NAS? I neither said shouting would have helped, nor do I justify shouting, but merely pointed out that it does sometimes, that's why people do it, often out of frustration, and I can imagine fewer situations more frustrating that this one.

It's all very well being loyal to an enterprise, but attempts to justify what happened here by an airy acceptance of it is not good enough, and has put me off Virgin Atlantic.

A 100 mile diversion should not turn 11 hours in an uncomfortable environment into 19 hours while someone faffs around with 'paperwork!'

quote:Originally posted by icarus2009
[quote]It's all very well being loyal to an enterprise, but attempts to justify what happened here by an airy acceptance of it is not good enough, and has put me off Virgin Atlantic.

A 100 mile diversion should not turn 11 hours in an uncomfortable environment into 19 hours while someone faffs around with 'paperwork!'


Fair enough. Having experienced such issues on several airlines over the years I have found VS handling of 'events' to be at least on a par with, if not slightly better, than other carriers.

Paul

quote:Originally posted by ilikebluesmarties
Payment shouldn't be a problem, Most airlines put fuel cards in the flight deck for most major proviers (Shell,BP,Exxon/Esso etc..) Especially as NAS and Virgin Atlantic have a history fuel payment shouldn't be a problem- as the TR mentions, refueling was done and dusted, it was the paper work that took the time. I work for an airline that does multi sector long haul and the paperwork from a domestic sector can be as extensive as a hop across the pond(having been caught up in some long paperwork delays.


I wonder if the pilot refuelled then went round the corner to find another petrol station and a few pence per litre cheaper.... always happens to me [:)]

altho now devoting my fuel stops to BP given the extra miles can earn on the VA cc [:)]