2-hour AC flight to Yukon becomes 2-day int'l journey

[oneh2obabe]

Hopefully no passenger was on the "no admittance" US list. At least AC put them up in hotels and gave them meal vouchers.

A two-hour flight from B.C. to Yukon turned into a frustrating two-day international tour for dozens of passengers this week.

Air Canada's 88 passengers began their journey late Monday night, flying out of Vancouver. They were headed for Whitehorse, but ended up in Anchorage, Alaska, for a night, and then were flown back to Vancouver for another night.

Some of the passengers finally arrived in Whitehorse early Wednesday afternoon — more than 36 hours late. Others were expected to arrive on a later flight on Wednesday.

"This is an inconvenience, but nobody has been out in the cold," said Thea Rogers on Tuesday evening from Anchorage. She was one of the passengers trying to get home to Whitehorse.

"My one criticism is the lack of communication with Air Canada — you know, we just didn't have a clue what was going on."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/ai ... -1.5401211

[OKkayak]

Flight was diverted due to weather, passengers were put up in hotels and provided food. Slow news day?

[Babba_not_Gump]

Being unexpectedly diverted to an American city can be a serious issue.
A number of years ago friends of our were flying Manzanillo to YVR when the the pilot had a heart attack and the plane was diverted to some American city. They told us a couple of passengers were quite upset and did not want to get off the plane.
When the passengers were finally put on a flight home, these two concerned passengers were not on that flight.

Btw, we were on that plane from YVR to Manzanillo. The pilot was smoking in the cockpit while the plane was in the air.

Flight was diverted due to weather, passengers were put up in hotels and provided food. Slow news day?
Yes, diverted flights are not uncommon and for people to complain about this diversion is petty.

[OKkayak]

Being unexpectedly diverted to an American city can be a serious issue.

The flight wasn't unexpectedly diverted anywhere, diversions are always planned for during the flight's dispatch and flight loading and the pilots will be well aware that the weather at their destination may or may not be suitable for landing and make a decision based on the probability of the weather being above or below minimums to either go or not. ANC would have been loaded as an alternate before the passengers even got to the airport to board the flight. Does a non-domestic alternate complicate things? Sure, but Whitehorse isn't exactly surrounded by suitable domestic alternates.

The pilot was smoking in the cockpit while the plane was in the air.

So?

[Babba_not_Gump]

So?

And then he had a heart attack.

[OKkayak]

And then he had a heart attack.

You have some sort of proof that that's what caused his heart attack? Lots of people who don't smoke have heart attacks.

[Boosted632]

what happens if you don't have your passport and they divert you to anchorage what if you're not allowed in the U S

[OKkayak]

what happens if you don't have your passport and they divert you to anchorage

They could keep you airside at the airport, or they can perform on the spot background checks with the ID you have on hand and give out emergency/temporary visa's (if required) and let you enter the country. If you don't pass the background check, you just stay airside at the airport like this guy:



However, it is common practice to arrange for special customs clearance in such cases. For an example, an AC flight from Toronto to Vancouver diverted to Seattle a few weeks ago and the airline made arrangements with US Customs to clear passengers into the US.

[Babba_not_Gump]

And then he had a heart attack.

You have some sort of proof that that's what caused his heart attack? Lots of people who don't smoke have heart attacks.

Of course I don't have proof that smoking caused his heart attack. Not sure why my comment upset you.

As for the pilot, when we heard about the flight being diverted and why, our first thought were, he got what he deserved.
Almost the entire flight down to Mexico, the 747 was filled with the stink of cigarette smoke. Numerous people complained to the cabin staff but to no avail This pilot does what he wants, and he often smokes on his flights, was one response we got.

Fortunately the rest of the trip was enjoyable.

[OKkayak]

Of course I don't have proof that smoking caused his heart attack. Not sure why my comment upset you.

Didn't upset me at all, just found it an irrelevant comment.

As for the pilot, when we heard about the flight being diverted and why, our first thought were, he got what he deserved.

Wow.

Almost the entire flight down to Mexico, the 747 was filled with the stink of cigarette smoke. Numerous people complained to the cabin staff but to no avail This pilot does what he wants, and he often smokes on his flights, was one response we got.

Pretty sure you meant 737 or 767. Maybe A319/320/321 or 330, but no 747. Regardless, airline policies aside, flight crew can legally still smoke on the flight deck (unless the laws have changed recently). As for the whole plane "smelling", been on lots of flights where the crew smoked and didn't get a whiff of it. Those of us old enough to remember when smoking was still allowed by passengers, unless you were sitting near the smoking section, the A/C system did a good job keeping the smell and smoke in the smoking section.

Anyway, thats neither here nor there. Flight diverted to its planned alternate, all passengers got to their destination safely and were compensated, slow news day.

[GrooveTunes]

Air North, meanwhile, was able to fly as scheduled to Whitehorse. Company president Joe Sparling said that's because his aircraft have GPS equipment that allows them to land in low visibility.

[OKkayak]

Air North, meanwhile, was able to fly as scheduled to Whitehorse. Company president Joe Sparling said that's because his aircraft have GPS equipment that allows them to land in low visibility.

Having a route network that depends flying into airports in the north with harsher weather conditions, I would hope they would, from a business point of view

[Babba_not_Gump]

Pretty sure you meant 737 or 767. Maybe A319/320/321 or 330, but no 747. Regardless, airline policies aside, flight crew can legally still smoke on the flight deck (unless the laws have changed recently). As for the whole plane "smelling", been on lots of flights where the crew smoked and didn't get a whiff of it. Those of us old enough to remember when smoking was still allowed by passengers, unless you were sitting near the smoking section, the A/C system did a good job keeping the smell and smoke in the smoking section.

Anyway, thats neither here nor there. Flight diverted to its planned alternate, all passengers got to their destination safely and were compensated, slow news day.

Nope, it was a 747 and far as I know it was the first 747 to ever land at ZLO. And yes, the plane did stink. Seemed like the pilot was chain smoking all the way from YVR.

[OKkayak]

Nope, it was a 747 and far as I know it was the first 747 to ever land at ZLO. And yes, the plane did stink. Seemed like the pilot was chain smoking all the way from YVR.

Curious as to what airline and year this would have been.

[Babba_not_Gump]

Nope, it was a 747 and far as I know it was the first 747 to ever land at ZLO. And yes, the plane did stink. Seemed like the pilot was chain smoking all the way from YVR.

Curious as to what airline and year this would have been.

Hmm, this required some thinking.
I know the plane was from Tower Air. We'll never forget it.
The date I believe was March, 2000.

We were booked on Canada 3000 to Manzanillo. The week prior our plane had an engine problem that still wasn't fixed for our flight, so they brought in this ancient, filthy 747 from New York. Eight or more hours late leaving YVR. An Hispanic cabin crew that didn't give a damn, seat cushions were worn through, overhead bins rattled and opened whenever we hit turbulence, constant smell of cigarette smoke. Probably more to complain about but the memories are thinning out.

When we landed at ZLO it seemed everyone that was part of the ground crew plus their families were out on the tarmac taking pictures. They'd never seen a 747 before.

Yeah, a memorable flight. Not sad to see Tower Air bit the dust. Too bad about Canada 3000.