Quote:
Originally Posted by jimworcs
We should wait for the final report... as more information is emerging all the time. How about this gem?
So Continental and Expressjet were offered an alternative for the passengers, but did not even offer the passengers this choice, so that those who wished too could take the bus to Minneapolis... not so sure that CO or Expressjet are off the hook here.
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As you say, the final report will be the most telling. However, as I said, listening to the recordings and reading the timeline I don't think even if space on the one bus sent to Rochester was offered (and there was nothing in the "official" record to indicate that it was) that it would not have been a good option for the following reasons:
1. Mesaba (dba Delta Connection) repeatedly refused requests by ExpressJet (dba Continental Connection) to disembark passengers at a jet-bridge. They were told they could park at a stand adjacent to the terminal building and walk across the ramp into the building but the pilot deemed that option unsafe since there were still active thunderstorms in the area. Also, one slip and fall on the wet tarmac or stairs and both ExpressJet and Continental could face a huge lawsuit.
2. The Northwest aircraft from Phoenix was an Airbus A320. The seating capacity of a Northwest A320 is 148. They would have us believe that there were only 50 on that flight? Perhaps there were more but not all wanted to take the bus to Minneapolis? Again, the final report will, hopefully, have more detail. Even if there was room on the (one and only) bus and assuming the headcount on that bus was 50 from the Northwest Airbus, how many more could that bus have accommodated? There were 47 on the Continental Express flight. I Googled some coach companies in the Rochester/Minneapolis area and the largest coach I could find carries 62 passengers. Now with 50 of those seats already spoken for and a planeload of 47 what do you do? It's easy to say 12 seats is better than nothing but how do you tell 3/4 of your passengers "sorry, you're still stuck." Furthermore how do you determine who goes and who stays? Women and children first?
3. At the time the bus option could have been discussed, ExpressJet dispatch/ops was still hopeful that the weather might break providing a safe window for the plane to takeoff and continue on to MSP. Unfortunately that break never happened and the end result was the crew timeout.