Family Of Smokers On Airplane Forces Costly Diversion

[onehandle]

The airline that was carrying a family of smokers who caused a Halifax flight to be diverted to Bermuda this weekend says it was a costly incident for everyone involved.

A Sunwing flight travelling from Halifax to the Dominican Republic on Friday night had to make an emergency landing after passengers were found smoking in the plane's bathroom.

According to the Bermuda Police Service another passenger alerted the crew and the smokers became verbally abusive. Police removed a mother, father and two sons, aged 16 and 22, from the flight.

"I cannot believe that passengers did this. I'll bet you it's been 20 years since smoking was allowed on an aircraft," said Daryl McWilliams, the vice-president of media relations with the airline.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/04/smoking-family-sunwing-flight-diversion-_n_2613665.html?ref=topbar

Addiction is ugly.

[Lucky Luciano]

1. The family should be sued for the extra fuel costs and other expenses. nt

[FarCenter]

5. They will be....

Unruly Sunwing passengers sentenced in Bermuda court

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2013/02/04/ns-smoking-family-bermuda-sunwing-court.html

Sunwing plans to sue, says spokesperson

McWilliams said on Monday that Sunwing plans to sue the MacNeils for costs associated with diverting the plane.

"We’re going to sue them," he said. "It’s something that we don’t do very often. We do it in cases where we think the activity has been flagrant. It usually requires going beyond verbal abuse."

McWilliams estimates that the cost of diverting the flight could be as much as $50,000. He said those costs include:
Landing fees at Bermuda airport.
-Flying a mechanic to Bermuda to examine the aircraft for defects (standard operating procedure for overweight planes.)
-Cost to hire crew to search plane for cigarette butts to make sure they were extinguished.
-Accommodations for passengers and crew overnight in Bermuda.
-Accommodations for passengers scheduled to fly home from the Dominican Republic on the diverted plane.

McWilliams said since the plane had to land before its scheduled destination, it was overweight due to the unburned fuel on board.

[bluestateguy]

11. Good. I hope they soak them for all they have.

I rarely side with corporations in lawsuits, but I will this time.

[bluestateguy]

2. If they caused me to miss a business meeting, or job interview, I would sue that idiot family

And I hope many passengers do just that.

[Cha]

10. I know, I was thinking about those who may

have missed important connections and how pissed they would be.

[Historic NY]

3. Its going to be a long ride home...

for them, too bad they didn't get nicorette.

[defacto7]

4. Great idea!

That's one way to see Bermuda! You just have to time it right.

[Shampoobra]

6. Wait -- we can't even smoke on airplanes anymore, either?

What's next? Libraries? Hospitals?

[Arugula Latte]

26. Ther takin our freedums!!

[KansDem]

29. "I'll give you my cigs...

...when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers"

[Le Taz Hot]

7. Have these people never heard of the nicotine patch?

It's what I used during an 8-hour flight (back when I was smoking). Got through the flight just fine.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

8. I think the Icelandair approach is preferable

[Cha]

9. that's news I've never seen..

thankfully.

What the heck! Way to get yourselves in a shitload of trouble because you thought you could get away with smoking on an airplane.

[snot]

12. Hold it--I have no sympathy for the smokers, BUT

smoking used to be commonplace on airplanes. Once the smokers were caught and the cigarettes extinguished, I'm not sure I understand the need for the emergency landing--at that point, it would seem the only purpose served would be to avoid subjecting other passengers to lingering second-hand smoke. I imagine most would prefer that to the unscheduled delay.

[ManiacJoe]

14. The destroyed smoke alarm in the restroom

can no longer detect fires.

[snot]

16. Ah; I missed that.

[toddwv]

15. These douchebags refused to tell the crew what they did with their cigarrettes.

Seems like they deserve everything they get.

[obamanut2012]

40. You can say that about any broken law or reg

Catch someone shoplifting, well, why call the cops? You got the goods back. etc etc etc

[Zoeisright]

13. Typical response by

drug addicts. I hope those smokers were charged all of the cost of the diversion.

[Mariana]

19. Not typical at all.

Smokers fly every day, thousands upon thousands of them. How many of them behave like these assholes? Almost none. The reason this story is news at all is because what these people did is extremely UNtypical.

[Iggo]

20. .

[Sirveri]

31. To be fair, he said drug addicts, not smokers.

I'm not sure how typical it is for drug addicts either.

[Mariana]

33. Most smokers are drug addicts.

The implication was that smokers typically behave this way. Otherwise why make a statement like that in this particular thread? This thread was about a particular group of smokers, not any other kinds of addicts.

I don't know why the poster wants to pretend that such behavior is typical of smokers, when in fact is it extremely unusual. That's kind of strange.

[Sirveri]

38. ehhh... Maybe most are... You're right that it is unusual though.

I consider addicts to not be able to handle their poison of choice due to the negative connotations of the word 'addict', of which this group would certainly qualify. Not sure what I'd call folks who have a dependency but can otherwise handle themselves in normal situations and can basically be normal other than their dependency. Maybe I should call them enthralled... but that also has a negative connotation due to the word thrall... So I have a definition that doesn't quite fit the mainstream/medical definition for a variety of reasons, probably should have led with that explanation instead, but I was in a hurry.

[toddwv]

17. Is anybody really happy

that this family isn't American?

[msanthrope]

23. And not from my state!!!!! nt

[Raine1967]

21. Could you kindly rephrase this statement?

It's over the top and rather inappropriate.

[leftynyc]

24. You're an asshole (n/t)

[Blue_Tires]

22. That's an expensive habit for everyone involved...

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5679243/

[Enrique]

25. i don't think the smoking caused the grounding

that wouldn't make sense to me, but an escalating argument with the attendants does make sense as a reason to ground the plane, so they could be arrested:

"They were smoking in the plane's washroom and when they came out they got into a little bit of an argument with the attendants. They couldn't say where they put their cigarette butts and that caused a bit of a commotion, I guess. From there it kind of escalated with the father, the mother and the son," said Shellington

He said his wife said there was a lot of screaming and swearing.

Simons said he couldn't confirm the family's nationality or if they had also been drinking, but said they were co-operative when they were removed from the plane by police.

[Rider3]

27. They need to be fined

That's ridiculous. What a bunch of idiots.

[liberal N proud]

28. Doesn't that just blow smoke up your ass

Just because someone can't abide by the rules for 3 hours, you get delayed and diverted.

People just don't realize the effect their stupid actions have on others. They are so self centered that they disregard everything and everyone to serve themselves.

[hogwyld]

30. Why didn't they just shoot them?

Seems to be the accepted practice for disagreements nowadays.

[link:http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022315680|

[Historic NY]

32. Romney would have open the planes windows...

to let out the smoke.

[terra nova]

34. What are the facts?

I cannot believe how many people will give an opinion without knowing the facts. Fact only the 22yr. old was accused of smoking on the plane. The parents then tried to defend him by getting into a verbal altercation with the accusing passenger. and probably the flight attendants. The boys charges of smoking were dropped due to lack of evidence. The parents were charged $500 dollars for their rude behavior. The MacNeil family intends to tell there story when they arrive home and not before. I intend to wait until I hear their story before I pass judgment. If I do at all. It was an unfortunate incident handled very poorly by all parties involved. Yes, including the complaining passenger.

[SheilaT]

35. As I recall (and I'm old enough to recall) the Surgeon General's report about how bad smoking is

came out in 1964. Anyone who took up smoking since then, and certainly anyone born since then, gets absolutely no sympathy from me about smoking.

People who smoke are stupid. Plain and simple. Yeah, I know it's addictive, and supposedly it's worse than heroin -- I can't comment since I've neither smoked nor used heroin -- but please. It is not breaking news that smoking is bad for you, nor is it breaking news that you can't smoke in most public places.

[terra nova]

36. No name calling

I was brought up to never call anyone STUPID

[SheilaT]

37. Oh, I dunno.

Give me a better name to use for someone who does something, like smoking, in the face of all the evidence that it's not a very good thing to do, and I'll use it.

[NRaleighLiberal]

39. I am as anti-smoking as they come (lost a father to a stroke...)

later in life, my dad told us how powerfully addictive it was, but managed to quit.

Here's what I think - those who start smoking are prey to the heavy advertisement or peer pressure. Those who continue to smoke after they start are just powerfully addicted - how else can they explain the grossness of it - the litter it adds, the way it fouls the air a and makes them stink.

So I will never use the word stupid. Smoking is just another habit, another way that humans are fallible. And there are so many ways.

And no, I've never smoked. My main human fallibility is prey to junk food/overeating...and I've been working (successfully!) on that one for years!