SC at 30,000 feet

[mathnerd]

Wolfie, yeah, I imagine the paperwork is a nightmare. And while I didn't hear everything that went on with the asshole in front of me, I'm sure he was reminded that misbehaving on the flight was a really bad idea.

Mooncat and Seshat, thanks. I've been trying to track down an appropriate email or snail mail address to write a letter praising the flight crew for how they handled things. I'd also like to ask them to forward a letter of thanks to the physicians on board who helped out. I know they won't give me the contact information for those people, but I'm hoping they'll forward something.

As for what the tomato juice asshole looked like, I have no idea, but the gif made me chuckle. I spent most of the rest of the flight staring at the ceiling, as I was laid down across the entire row of seats.

[Monterey Jack]

Did the tomato juice asshole look like this, by any chance...?

[Seshat]

Box of chocolates time, mathnerd. Sent to the crew of that flight. Also, a hamper of assorted tomato products (assembled by someone ELSE), for irony's sake.

[MoonCat]

Mathnerd, glad you're okay!

[Ternasthebard]

Just being cynical, but I've heard that the paperwork for "passenger died on the aircraft" is FAR more than that for "we had to divert, but unfortunately the passenger died in the ambulance".

Just being a bit more cynical than that, but I could have sworn hearing somewhere that the reimbursement/pay off for having a passenger die on the flight costs them less than having to deal with angry customers that might attempt to sue them for diverting the flight.

[wolfie]

A guy in the row in front of me asked for tomato juice. The flight attendant informed him that they would not be serving any tomato juice for the remainder of the flight, since that was the likeliest source of the medical emergency, and they didn't want to take any chances. Well you would have thought they just told him they were going to shove him out of the plane at 30,000 feet. This guy went absolutely ballistic, cursing and screaming and making all sorts of ruckus.

What would his reaction have been if they'd told him they ran out of tomato juice (possibly due to catering screwing up - supplying an extra case of orange juice instead of the second case of tomato juice)? With this being post-9/11, I'm surprised this guy wasn't hauled off the plane in handcuffs.

BTW, if the flight crew told me they were going to shove me out at 30,000 feet, I'd question their knowledge of the plane's safety features - the first movement of a door being opened is INWARD, and the pressurization (needed for survival at that altitude, so they wouldn't be able to depressurize in order to open the door) puts it beyond human strength to open the door - not to mention that on many narrow-body aircraft the hinges are at the FRONT, so they'd have to swing it against the 500+ MPH slipstream.

They were completely prepared to land the plane as soon as the trouble started, and did everything exactly right to keep me breathing.

Just being cynical, but I've heard that the paperwork for "passenger died on the aircraft" is FAR more than that for "we had to divert, but unfortunately the passenger died in the ambulance".

[mathnerd]

A few days ago I was returning home on a coast to coast flight. Apparently, some tomato juice splashed into the ice bin of the beverage cart, which contaminated my ice water and caused an allergic reaction. I have extremely severe reactions to tomatoes, and have had reactions bad enough to need to be intubated and/or shocked back into a normal sinus rhythm. The flight crew was awesome, and there happened to be not one, but three physicians on board, and between that and the medications I had with me (4 epipens, benadryll, albuterol), we were able to get me stable enough to keep the flight going, instead of diverting it to Dallas like they were prepared to do when the reaction first started.

So, they get me stable, clear my row and get me comfortable. Once the drama settled down, the flight crew began their second beverage service. A guy in the row in front of me asked for tomato juice. The flight attendant informed him that they would not be serving any tomato juice for the remainder of the flight, since that was the likeliest source of the medical emergency, and they didn't want to take any chances. Well you would have thought they just told him they were going to shove him out of the plane at 30,000 feet. This guy went absolutely ballistic, cursing and screaming and making all sorts of ruckus. The crew wouldn't back down, and and he eventually calmed down, but not before threatening to file a formal complaint against the crew. Gee, really? You can't have a particular kind of juice because it might kill the person in the row behind you, and they were doing everything they could to get us home instead of having to land at a different airport, so this ruins your flight? If I was able to breathe well, I'd have gotten up and punched him. Seriously, where are your priorities!

On the flip side, I can't say enough good things about the way the crew handled things. They were completely prepared to land the plane as soon as the trouble started, and did everything exactly right to keep me breathing. The doctors on board, who were just passengers themselves really helped, but I think the crew would have been a-ok even if they weren't there.