Nightmare on 2816

So last night around 10 or so, I logged onto my lap top and clicked on the "e" button for the internet.  My AOL homepage came up which was not unusual. As the page came up though, the headline that was number 1 in the slide (those who have AOL homepages know what I am referring to) was in regards to some individuals being stuck on a tarmac for 6 hours. I immediately clicked on it which is completely out of character for me...unusual...odd...needs to be questioned.  I was thinking to myself, what the hell could have kept people on a plane for that long besides a bomber or a damn stand-off.  So needless to say, I'm not sure if I will even be able to effectively articulate my sheer infuriation as I deliberately scrutinized the article.

Okay people, first things first.  I know I am late on the news as I have not had antivirus on my laptop and I did not want to take any chances on getting on the internet besides the sites that I perceived to be secure.  I used to read the news everyday online or at least watch it on TV, but having recently repositioned my entire life elsewhere, setting up cable had been assembled into something that was nothing more than a speck of dust in the left corner in the recesses of my mind.  Consequently, I am behind in the news.  Yes, sad to say, the people who I am in the company of on a daily basis (i.e. co-workers and friends) do not keep me abreast of current world events. 

Whew.  Now with all of that out of the way, I can go back to my rant.  Evidently, Continental Express Flight 2816 had 47 passengers aboard as it raced down the runway in Houston at 9:23 P.M., and soared into the blue.  This was August 7, 2009.  The flight from Houston to Minneapolis was supposed to last roughly 2 ½ hours.  However, due to matters that were only in the hands of God or Mother Nature (whichever one, you deem to be more omnipotent), dreadful weather prompted air controllers to redirect the plane to Rochester.  The plane purportedly landed in Rochester between midnight and 12:30 A.M. in an attempt to wait until the storm passed at the original destination point. 

Around 2 in the morning, Flight 2816 was given the go ahead to resume the flight and head to Minneapolis nearly 90 miles away.  Conversely, those plans would be rescinded as the dreadful weather began to head right to Rochester.  The captain attempted to contact dispatchers back in Houston at nearly 3 o'clock to inform them that the storm appeared to be getting closer, so much so that they could catch sight of lightning off in the distance.  It took dispatchers over 10 minutes to respond to that call.  Herein lies, the first snag. 

Why in the hell did it take dispatchers that long to respond to the captain's, for lack of a better phrase, distress call?!  These air traffic controllers that redirected the plane knew what the hell was going on.  Everyone should have been checking on this plane and the passengers periodically and also available to respond to dispatches coming from the cockpit of Flight 2816.  Is there some sort of time frame for this?  I mean, maybe it's just me, but dammit these people were sitting on a plane in the same damn locality for almost three hours.  These people were out of food (not that airlines traveling inside of the United States has anything besides some nasty ass peanuts and alcohol, water or juice) and the toilet, ewww.  The least the dispatchers could do is be at the damn intercom when the call comes through!!!!!

The dispatcher, in turn, contacted the airport in Rochester where the plane was located on the tarmac.  Slowly, the bad dream turned into a nightmare.  An earlier flight to Minneapolis had run into the exact same situation and buses were brought into play in order to transport some individuals to their destination point.  However, when the dispatcher in Houston contacted a ground worker for Mesaba Airlines, the associate made it crystal clear that no buses were coming.  A flash flood warning was in effect on the roads and I quote: "We can't - I mean we were just able to let these guys off. We can't get them a bus. If I can't secure them a bus, I can't have them in a closed airport," the Mesaba associate stated.  This representative had the authority to get those passengers off of the plane and inside SAFER conditions.  Are you serious?!!!!!!!!!  

You have 47 passengers stranded inside of a plane that is outside on a tarmac in the middle of some horrible weather-obviously, more than horrible as air traffic controllers deemed it necessary to have the plane land in Rochester to wait out the storm.  Yet, the storm headed towards Rochester and these people were not allowed to deplane and go inside of the airport for shelter.  What in the world is going on?!  Flight 2816 was not inside of an airplane hangar somewhere not out and exposed to the elements, but it was on a tarmac-a damn runway, and somehow the Mesaba representative used his/hers "better" judgment to advise the dispatcher that the passengers would not be allowed inside. 

From the information that I gathered, this employee repudiated all efforts made by the captain and the dispatchers to have the passengers allowed to get off of the plane due to a lack of understanding airport security rules and regulations.  Let's step back for a moment. 

Mesaba Airlines is a subsidiary of Delta Airlines.  I am not at all surprised that they had their hands in this somehow.  Delta has the absolute worse customer service ever!  These people answer the phones and proceed to talk to you, the customer, with some apparent great disdain as if you giving them your money is some great feat that requires the phone representative to take time out to do what they should already be doing-their damn JOBS!!!!!!! Ugh!  Not to mention that the associates who work inside of the airports for Delta lack all etiquette, decorum and business acumen!  That associate should be handed their walking papers and told to kick rocks.  If I would have been that associate I would have gotten fired, because if  that was the rule, which it was not, I would have let these people inside of the airport despite the consequences that I may have had to incur.  If you have a heart, you would have done so.  I mean if Mesaba Airlines would have fired me, I would have sued them.  In this economy, people are looking at anything and everything as an excuse to be penny pinchers.  I would have contacted every media network and I would have certainly made friends with those passengers once they were safely inside.  Oh, I would have gotten some numbers and names so that should I be fired, they would serve as my witnesses, which I'm sure these passengers would have been more than happy to accede to had I mentioned that I could lose my job for this-and believe you me, I would have let them all know that my neck was on the line, but that I had opened the airport and let them in because right is right and wrong is wrong. 

In an article by the Chicago Tribune, I read that the Department of Transportation said that the graveyard workers "simply made bad judgment calls."  Simply.  Webster has these words listed behind simply in the dictionary: clearly, plainly, and merely.  None of these words are fiery enough or have enough depth in them to convey the severity of what has taken place.  Simply.  I'm appalled that the department even chose such a nonchalant word to downplay this-simply. 

Simply put, I would have gotten up out of my seat, crossed over people if necessary and proceeded to open the overhead compartment.  I would have started to remove my belongings.  If a stewardess would have walked up on me asking me what I was doing, I would have politely (as politely as I could considering the circumstances) told her that I was leaving.  Maybe she would have asked me to "sit down please" and maybe not.  Maybe she would have appreciated that someone was actually going to do something in spite of being told no.  If she didn't, I would have advised her that if she touched me, I would be forced to touch her and that would be a promise as being held on a plane against my will is kidnapping..."leave me the hell alone.  Since the captain cannot get results, I can."

I'm sure that no passengers would have attempted to stop me as they would have all been too busy looking to see what I would do next. I would have slid by the stewardess and then proceeded to open the emergency exit.  I would have dropped my bags onto the ground and then lowered myself to the ground.  I don't need a damn slide to go down in order to exit safely or any stairs. I'm from New Orleans.  Period.  We don't take kindly to our time being wasted or our money and being told no, especially after being more than patient, understanding and compromising.  If Hurricane Katrina, considered one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States, could not keep me down I'll damned if a stewardess, pilot or passenger will!  They would not have had any effect on the adrenaline and the fight or flight response that would have been overriding what others may have deemed my ability to rationalize. 

Oh, I would have gotten off of that plane and headed to the closed airport.  I would have knocked...maybe once...maybe even three times.  That is me following proper protocol and having manners. When my knocks would have gone unanswered or perhaps turned away, I would have broken the damn window.  Even if they had to put me in a cell inside of that "closed" airport, I would have been better off in there than in that damn plane.  I'm sure that my audacity would have inspired others on that plane to do the same-a woman, black, taking matters into her own hands and doing what should have been done a long time ago.  And even if that did not happen, the fact that I had to resort to those measures would have gained me much media attention and once Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Oprah or even President Obama got wind of this utterly ridiculous and uncalled for fiasco, I would have been pardoned and some serious finger pointing would be done.  This little BS pending investigation is nothing more than an effort to make it look like some actions will be taken, but really all of this is just black words on white paper sitting amongst other paperwork on the desks of officials who have declared the pile to the left of their Montblanc pens overrated and a waste of funding. 

At 5 a.m., Flight 2816 received clearance again that this time the plane could actually leave and head to Minneapolis.  Again too good to be true, would prove to be the case.  The plane would not get back into the sky for another hour as the passengers and crew had to postpone departure again due to another airplane crew having to be flown in because the current crew had labored past the number of hours permitted.  And to add insult to injury, the passengers were required to re-board the same plane with that disgusting toilet, irritated babies, and barely any food to head to Minneapolis.  The frightful ordeal that was endured on Flight 2816 finally came to an end at 9:15 a.m., almost half a day after leaving Houston.

Ray LaHood, U.S. Transportation Secretary, verbalized this:  "There was a complete lack of common sense here. It's no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated." 

My sentiments exactly; however, all of this "official" drivel is doing nothing more than enervating my ability to hear.  Hold the necessary people accountable or shut the hell up!