Union sounds the alarm Crews forget sleeping passengers on the plane
Cases of passengers being forgotten on planes are on the rise, warns a flight attendants' union. Inadequate checks after landing are a safety risk.
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- A woman was forgotten on an empty plane after a flight from Quebec City to Toronto in 2019.
- The crew left the plane early and overlooked the passenger.
- According to the US flight attendants' union APFA, incidents like this are becoming more frequent.
In June 2019, one such story made headlines: a woman woke up in the middle of the night alone on an empty plane on the apron at Toronto Airport. What sounds like a rare isolated incident is apparently a recurring problem in aviation. A US flight attendants' union is now sounding the alarm.
The woman had fallen asleep during a flight from Quebec City to Toronto and was simply overlooked. After landing, the crew left the plane without noticing her. With an empty cell phone battery and in complete darkness, the passenger searched for help. Eventually she found a flashlight, opened an aircraft door and alerted an apron employee with light signals.
Cases are becoming more frequent
According to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), the union representing American Airlines flight attendants, such incidents are not uncommon. The APFA recently issued a memo highlighting the risks of such situations. Leaving a passenger on board is not only a significant safety deficiency, but can also violate the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR), the rules and regulations of US aviation.
Inadequate cabin checks after landing are the main reason for such incidents, according to the APFA. Toilets and hard-to-see seating areas in particular should be thoroughly checked. The memo calls on cabin crew to ensure that no passengers are sleeping in their seats or are on the floor.
"This final check is critical to ensure that no one is overlooked and that there is no risk of FAR violations," it says.
Responsibility of the entire crew
The union emphasizes that the responsibility for the final check should not rest solely on one person.
Rather, the entire cabin crew must work together to ensure that all passengers have left the aircraft. The purser, i.e. the person in charge of the crew, should carry out a final inspection.
The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.
