Return To Gate From Runway For One Passenger

SimonTemplar

I've been meaning to post this for a while to get your opinions.

My very first time flying abroad was in 2005 from Shannon To Newark. Once in Newark, I got a connecting flight to Ronald Reagan Intl. in DC. A lot of other passengers on the Shannon to Newark flight were getting a connecting flight to Atlanta. The schedule was very tight and there was little time between the arrival of the Shannon flight and the departure of the DC/Atlanta flights. The airline was Continental.

So at Shannon, we boarded as normal and the plane taxied to the runway. We were at the top of the runway and about to take off when the pilot announced that we would be returning to the gate to pick up a late passenger. Obviously, a lot of people on the plane were annoyed by this. So, we returned to the gate, aligned the jet bridge again, the passenger got on board and we taxied back and took off. Due to this delay, we all missed our connecting flights and had to be booked on later flights.

I didn't think anything of it at the time because it was my first flight, but now I know that that was very unusual. Does anyone have any possibilities why the pilot would make that decision to return?

As it happens, that passenger sat near me in economy. Therefore, I doubt he was a VIP.

MuffinsDa

Perhaps they just realised that he was missing and they realised they hadn't unloaded the bags, so they had to go back anyway, and letting him onboard would have been quicker than searching for and unloading his bag.

brandon_flowers

Just a random guess but a flight dispatcher will have the correct answer I'm sure.

The passengers bag was most likely in the hold. Where the passenger goes, the bag goes and vice versa. It might have been quicker to get the passenger on than get the bag off.

Edit: Beaten to it.

SimonTemplar

brandon_flowers wrote: »

Just a random guess but a flight dispatcher will have the correct answer I'm sure.

The passengers bag was most likely in the hold. Where the passenger goes, the bag goes and vice versa. It might have been quicker to get the passenger on than get the bag off.

Edit: Beaten to it.

That's probably it. Cheers

Growler!!!

Very unusual. Normal procedure is for the cabin crew to call the flight deck with the final numbers. Cross check with the load sheet and then clear the cabin crew to close the doors. Must have missed them in the head count :-)

KnotABother

I was on a flight a few years ago where there was a little bit of a surreal situation. The aircraft was delayed on the inbound sector and so there was a bit of a rush to get everyone on board to get out(it was not Ryanair). The cabin crew got everyone seated and were doing their head count. The hostess did the count and then returned to the top of the cabin to talk to the other lady. From what I could see she was saying the numbers were off and the other hostess pointed to the toilet "occupied" sign being on at the back of the aircraft. Well all I can assume is that the person had a big meal because it was "occupied" for over 35 mins. The crew knocked twice and got a reply so were assured the person was not dead but seemingly they just must have had a bit of paperwork to do...their bowels lead to a 50 minute delay.

I found myself being that 1 passenger (through no fault of my own) and it was very embarrassing!

I was flying O'Hare-Newark-Dublin

There were massive storms in Chicago so my flight to Newark was delayed by about 3 hours, originally I only had an hour to connect in Newark so I assumed I had missed it and was going to have to make other arrangements either way.

So I got to Newark and sauntered to the nearest Continental staff I could find who told me the flight to Dublin had been delayed too and it was just about to leave so they phoned somebody while I ran to the gate I was told do. When I got there I was ushered on to the jetway where I saw no plane at the end of it, just the dark sky outside and then rather strangely I just saw the plane pull back up on to the jetway!

I had to stand there for a few minutes while they opened the door etc and it was really horrible walking on with everybody muttering presumably not so pleasant things about me! Only for 2 middle-aged women who were laughing at me which lightened my mood slightly it was terrible and the cherry on top was my seat was very far down the plane so pretty much everybody got a good look at me and how red I was as I awkwardly made my way to my seat.

Bonus when we arrived in Dublin though -- I fully didnt expect my bag to make it as I had literally been no more than 15 mins in Newark airport, tops... but there it was first on to the carousel!:D