Strange airliner news

[Zöltuger]

Pilot locked out of cockpit during flight

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The pilot of a Canadian airliner who went to the washroom during a flight found himself locked out of the cockpit, forcing the crew to remove the door from its hinges to let him back in, the airline said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred aboard a flight from Ottawa to Winnipeg on Saturday. The regional jet, capable of carrying 50 people, was operated by Air Canada's Jazz subsidiary.

Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stewart said that with 30 minutes of the flight to go, the pilot went to the washroom, leaving the first officer in charge. But when he tried to get back into the cockpit, the door would not open.

"The door malfunctioned ... this is a very rare occurrence," Stewart said, adding that the crew's decision to remove the door had been in line with company policy.

A report in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper said that for about 10 minutes "passengers described seeing the pilot bang on the door and communicating with the cockpit though an internal telephone, but being unable to open the door".

Stewart said the paper's report was "a bit dramatic" and stressed that at no time had the plane or passengers been in danger. She did not say how many people had been on board.

Air Canada is a unit of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc..

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ahahaha just as well they got the door off

[Zöltuger]

No seat for 190kg man on plane

A 190kg man has spoken of his distress after space could not be found for him on a plane.
Dave Brown, 58, from Middlesbrough, had to abandon his holiday after he could not fit into any of the seats.

He said he had contacted operator Thomas Cook three times and was told there would not be a problem.

It said seats had been allocated but the crew had realised extra space was needed and had acted for safety reasons and a full refund had been offered.

Mr Brown, who is 6ft 6ins (198cm) tall, had booked the holiday to Turkey for his wife Margaret, who had spent much of the last year in hospital.

'Safety requirements'

They arrived at Newcastle Airport four hours before the flight and Mr Brown said they were told again there would not be an issue. But problems arose once they boarded the plane.

Mr Brown said: "Everybody knew that because of my weight I couldn't fit on the plane and that was making me really bad.

"I was just sweating, going all white and everything else."

In a statement, Thomas Cook Airlines said: "We spoke directly with Mr Brown a month prior to his flight, and following the information he provided to his medical questions, we pre-allocated medical seats at the front of the aircraft to provide additional space.

"Once on the aircraft, our crew realised additional space would be required. Our crew were unable to seat the party in comfortable manner to comply with safety requirements for taxi, departure and take-off.

"As a gesture of goodwill a full refund has been offered. Whilst we understand the distress the situation may have caused Mr Brown, we would like to highlight that at all times we acted purely for his and other passengers' safety and comfort."

this must be a growing problem for airlines and aircraft manufacturers. airlines will have to start refusing flights to really overweight people

[steelsporran]

this must be a growing problem for airlines and aircraft manufacturers. airlines will have to start refusing flights to really overweight people

I always ensure there is no one like that between me and the exits.

[SUBS17]

I'm surprised that they are actually allowed out of the pit due to the terrorist threat. Should be locked in there using piddlepacks lol.