Wed, Feb 29, 2012
Pilot's Misunderstood Greeting Prompts Panic, Anger
To reverse an old saying, "Even people with real enemies can
still be paranoid." The hair-trigger security environment which now
characterizes airline travel may have a few people on edge. On
Southwest Flight 155 from Baltimore to Long Island Friday, a
friendly acknowledgment by the pilot over the PA system of the
birthday of a "mom on board" was misheard by some passengers as
"bomb on board," causing a brief panic.
USA Today cites a report by the Associated Press in relating
that even after flight attendants explained what had actually been
said, and the pilot himself came back on the PA to clarify the
statement, "two passengers were disgruntled enough to complain to
security officials."
This has become a big enough deal that both the airline and the
FAA have felt the need to issue public statements. The Long Island
Press report a Southwest spokeswoman explained, "The pilot made an
announcement that was misunderstood" after an air traffic
controller working out of Terminal Radar Approach in Westbury
contacted the pilot and had asked him to “wish his mother a
happy birthday." The airline says the pilot did report the incident
through the appropriate channels.
The FAA statement added, "Pilots and controllers will sometimes
engage in brief greetings. If such conversations go beyond this
limit, controllers are counseled to refrain from such unnecessary
talk." The agency says it is reviewing the ATC communications, but
not investigating the pilot or the airline.
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