A Virgin 747 had people on board for 7 hours due to maint. issues.  Would not let them off.  Brought the police on to prevent passenger riots.

Link here www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17624069%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=trapped-on-flight-63--name_page.html

Here is my question.  In the US, if you are stuck on a tarmac for 3-4, 5 hours, and they will not let you off, is it a criminal act to utilize the emergency exits and depart the plane?

TXL

Quoted: A Virgin 747 had people on board for 7 hours due to maint. issues.  Would not let them off.  Brought the police on to prevent passenger riots. Link here www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17624069%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=trapped-on-flight-63--name_page.html Here is my question.  In the US, if you are stuck on a tarmac for 3-4, 5 hours, and they will not let you off, is it a criminal act to utilize the emergency exits and depart the plane? TXL

This is why I don't fly.  Got stuck in the heat on a plane for about 3 1/2hrs once.  That was fun.  7hrs?  I might go ahead and take the arrest to get off the M'Fn plane.

Wouldn't they be guilty of kidnapping or something like that???

At what point does it become kidnap or holding you against your will?

-Foxxz

That's utter bullsh*t!

Couldn't that fall under false imprisonment, detainment or kidnapping, or some such if you really wanted to push it?

I don't see how they can legally keep you on that plane.  You don't sign away your rights when you purchase a ticket.

Now I can see that rule if you are airborne...

Quoted: Wouldn't they be guilty of kidnapping or something like that???

I'll take a wild guess and say there's something in very fine print on the back of the ticket that absolves the airline of any wrong doing when this kinda stuff happens.

I fly frequently and have often thought about the same thing. That plan would probably end badly for you legally, regardless of how morally right it is.

Some time ago wasn't there a case where something similar happened and a passenger made a cell call to his lawyer who got a judge to order the plane back to the gate? I don't have a lawyer myself, but I've always thought I could call my wife and then have her call all the local media, the airline and the airport authority and make a big stink out of it. "My husband and all these other nice people are being held hostage!"

I was recently in Yuma and that included a short hop from Phoenix.  Americal West announced the plane would be delayed 3 hours. I could rent a car and drive in that time. Figuring the plane would never go, i.e. be completely cancelled I asked for my checked baggage back. Got it back in 15 minutes, no fuss, no muss. I was worried they would hold that hostage! BTW, avoid America West if you can, they are totally screwed up right now during their acquisition by US Airways.

Can the pax rebel in this case?  Not sure...but I know of one case where they did.

One of my former colleagues was leaving Atlanta for Kali on a Delta 767 about a year ago.  As they taxied out, the cabin suddenly began to fill with nasty toxic smoke.  The passengers began getting REAL antsy but the crew kept telling them that the smoke was harmless and to remain seated while the crew stopped the aircraft out in the tarmac between terminals and attempted to locate and fix the problem.

While the crew diddled the cabin continue to fill with smoke until the pax were having trouble breathing and seeing.  Finally some men in the back ignored the cabin crew and the words from Ace up in the non-smoky flight deck and took matters into their own hands.  They elbowed the flight attendants out of the way, unlatched the aft cabin door and deployed the emergency slide!  The rest of the sheep in the cabin suddenly grew a set and followed their lead.

At that point old Ace figured the jig was up and came ripping back into the cabin in time to see the front pax do the same thing!

When my colleague and I got together again back at the lab, he showed me the pics he took with his little digital camera.   It was a huge fiasco for Delta.

I'd have done the same thing.

I was stuck on the tarmac in Orlando for 3 1/2 hours once. The a/c wasn't working which they said also controls the cabin pressure. They didn't let anybody off and some of the passengers where getting very antsy which made me a little antsy. Eventually we took off but stayed around 15 to 20 thousand feet for the whole flight.

Quoted: A Virgin 747 had people on board for 7 hours due to maint. issues.  Would not let them off.  Brought the police on to prevent passenger riots. Link here www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17624069%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=trapped-on-flight-63--name_page.html Here is my question.  In the US, if you are stuck on a tarmac for 3-4, 5 hours, and they will not let you off, is it a criminal act to utilize the emergency exits and depart the plane? TXL

For you own safety, you don't want to depart out of a plane that is stuck on the tarmac. 1. It's over 10 feet depending on the plane you are in. 2. tarmac is concrete and will not absorb your landing.

Quoted: I don't see how they can legally keep you on that plane.  You don't sign away your rights when you purchase a ticket.

I'm pretty sure that the "federal aviation regulations require you to comply with all flight attendant instructions" allows the airline to go after you for causing a disturbance on a plane.

Shit, I think it's a felony to light up a smoke in the bathroom.

Unless you were in mortal danger, or had a medical condition that required you to depart the plane, or smoke filling the cabin like the guy above, I'd say you'd be in quite some trouble legally for trying to get off the plane.

But in a post-911 world, the jury probably would look favorably upon a group of passengers taking things into their own hands.  YMMV.

Quoted: Quoted: A Virgin 747 had people on board for 7 hours due to maint. issues.  Would not let them off.  Brought the police on to prevent passenger riots. Link here www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17624069%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=trapped-on-flight-63--name_page.html Here is my question.  In the US, if you are stuck on a tarmac for 3-4, 5 hours, and they will not let you off, is it a criminal act to utilize the emergency exits and depart the plane? TXL For you own safety, you don't want to depart out of a plane that is stuck on the tarmac. 1. It's over 10 feet depending on the plane you are in. 2. tarmac is concrete and will not absorb your landing.

Well, since it's 2006, most planes have those neat little slides the deploy when the emergency door is open.

TXL

Quoted: Well, since it's 2006, most planes have those neat little slides the deploy when the emergency door is open.

At landing or right before takeoff, you might hear the cabin attendants talking on the speaker about "doors armed and cross-checked".  At that point, the slides are turned on.  They are definitely not always on.

At least there weren't any muh fuh-in' snakes onda plane.... Or was there.... duh duh DUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN

At what point can you call the police and claim you are being held hostage?

Its a good thing there wasnt snakes on the plane!

Quoted: At what point can you call the police and claim you are being held hostage?

I'd say the point where there aren't any law enforcement present, and the FAA doesn't give you any information on why you're being held on the plane.

If there was a malfunction and the plane needed to be repaired, they should've been taken off of the plane before repairs were underway.

(It's just my opinion, but I wouldn't fly on a fuckin' plane that was being worked on for 7 fuckin' hours. I wouldn't fly on ANY plane that I saw being repaired... Gives me the heebee jeebeez)

The moment you board a commercial craft you lose what ever rights you had left after going through screening. Think of Conair with a bag of peanuts and a $5 beer...