Skip to comments.
Saudi men mistakenly open Chicago plane exit window
Reuters (Yahoo Finance) ^
| 10/10/2001
Posted on 10/10/2001 10:58:04 AM PDT by wysiwyg
Wednesday October 10, 12:33 pm Eastern Time
Saudi men mistakenly open Chicago plane exit window
(UPDATE: Updates throughout)
CHICAGO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Three Saudi men removed from a United Airlines (NYSE:UAL - news) flight after they mistakenly tried to open an exit window to get air circulating during the boarding process were only confused passengers, the FBI said on Wednesday.
``They didn't understand English, didn't read English. They were trying to get some air circulating in the airplane,'' FBI spokeswoman Virginia Wright said of Tuesday night's incident.
The three were questioned by the FBI and police and later released, she said.
Two brothers were escorting their ill father to St. Louis for a liver transplant and had just boarded United Flight 729, a Boeing 727, at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport when one of the brothers attempted to open an exit window over a wing.
``The incident was a result of the inability of the flight crew to communicate with the passengers. They were Saudi Arabians who spoke no English,'' Wright said. ``They were not experienced flyers. They were novice about airplane travel.''
The airline brought in a new aircraft and the flight later departed at 9:10 p.m. (10:10 p.m. EDT/1410 GMT).
In an unrelated incident, an Australian man was arrested in Chicago on Tuesday after he allegedly became drunk on a flight from Los Angeles and had to be restrained by several passengers after assaulting a flight attendant, the FBI said. He was identified as Kevin Houghton, 31, of Melbourne, Australia.
That incident occurred on the same Los Angeles to Chicago flight on which a day earlier an apparently deranged man tried to rush the cockpit.
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80 ... 101-111 next last
How stupid can United Airlines be? What idiot would seat non-English speakers in an emergency exit row? The fact that they were Saudis has nothing to do with it; it would have been just as bad if they had been non-English-speaking Italians.
On the other hand, a flight attendant on Southwest once told me a story about an elderly woman that was sitting next to the emergency exits. Before the safety briefing, the flight attendant said, "Ma'am, this is the emergency exit row. Do you think you could open that window if needed?" The woman replied, "Well, do you mean like this?" She grabbed the handle and pulled. The flight attendant tried to stop her but it was too late. Oops. I guess she phrases her question a little clearer now.
1
posted on
10/10/2001 10:58:05 AM PDT
by
wysiwyg
To: wysiwyg
This reminds me a bit about a story told by one of the characters in "Bonfire of the Vanities". I don't remember his name, but he was the wealthy husband of the woman that Sherman McCoy was keeping on the side.
Anyway, he tells a story about making his forture running jet charters to Mecca for devout Muslims who want to make their pilgrimage. A lot of the flyers had never been on planes before, so they did lots of weird stuff like bringing farm animals along on the flight (their version of road trip food) AND starting cooking fires in the aisles of the plane! Hey, you get hungry up there.
More and more lately life seems to be imitating art.
2
posted on
10/10/2001 11:06:50 AM PDT
by
Fixit
To: wysiwyg
Write your congress critters. Demand that all non citizen Muslims be deported NOW. This will make the FBI's job easier in watching the remaining ones. They (the 'citizen' Moslems) may have to go too however.
What the HELL are we doing giving livers away to these 'people' for anyway?!?!
3
posted on
10/10/2001 11:08:54 AM PDT
by
mercy
To: wysiwyg
Put 'em on a Greyhound bus.
To: wysiwyg
It is illegal to have someone who doesn't understand flight crew directions in an emergency exit row, from my understanding.
To: mercy
maybe it was a pig liver
To: wysiwyg
"liver transplant"
Once again, America to the the rescue...
Comment #8 Removed by Moderator
To: wysiwyg
Exit window? What vintage plane was this? Har!
To: OwenKellogg
hehehe. one may hope.
10
posted on
10/10/2001 11:16:14 AM PDT
by
mercy
To: Fixit
An old friend of mine used to "fly the hump" in China ferrying Chinese soldiers. Old military transports with the big door opening in the side. He told me of watching less than a dozen chinese stand in a circle next to the dooor and play a game of "odd man out" in a literal manner. Before the american crew in the cargo area could stop it... One by one, three had lost the wrestling match and been tossed out of the plane while airborne. Great mystery these cultures.
11
posted on
10/10/2001 11:18:16 AM PDT
by
KC Burke
To: DoughtyOne
Exit window? What vintage plane was this? Har!Have you never sat in the emergency exit row of an airliner? They all have emergency exit windows that are used if people need to get off the plane in a big hurry, in an emergency, for example. Anyway, if United was flying it, I'm sure it's pretty new equipment.
12
posted on
10/10/2001 11:22:24 AM PDT
by
wysiwyg
To: mercy
What the HELL are we doing giving livers away to these 'people' for anyway?!?! It must be all that oil money, they are giving in exchange for the liver.
13
posted on
10/10/2001 11:22:59 AM PDT
by
Mark17
Inexperienced in air travel? What, were these "Saudis" BORN here?
To: Mark17
It must be all that oil money, they are giving in exchange for the liver. Is that how J.R. got his?
To: wysiwyg
If you'll think about it, I think you'll agree there is a tiny little window in the Emergency Exit Door. I've always thought of it as an exit door.
To: Mark17
no doubt. Hey! Have you thought of this: "Was that fat lady leafing through the Natl. Enquirer in the line in front of me today sending anthrax spoors into the air around me?"
17
posted on
10/10/2001 11:32:43 AM PDT
by
mercy
To: DoughtyOne
All narrow body jets - 737s, MD80s, and 717s - have exit window hatches
18
posted on
10/10/2001 11:33:20 AM PDT
by
Dukie
To: wysiwyg
Assuming that we're talking about the overwing exits, it's no big thing to put it back in place: I did it in flight school in a T-43 (military 737: extra navigation stations in an otherwise stock 737-200. . .), and removing the door is 5 seconds work: putting it back in place, no more that a minute's work. . . it's a fairly simple, fool-proof system...
19
posted on
10/10/2001 11:35:08 AM PDT
by
Salgak
To: Dukie
Thanks, check out my comments under #16.
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80 ... 101-111 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson