More airport stupidity

[Truth Detector]

My sister & her family are sitting on their plane on the tarmac @ Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta. There are tornados in the area and they won't let them off the plane.

What worse place can you be in a tornado???

[Ren Butler]

What worse place can you be in a tornado???

Sorry, my first post was a little insensitive considering that one of your loved ones is involved.

But I was watching a live camera from that airport on CNN, and it looks like the worst has passed.

[Truth Detector]

They had a short window that allowed them to take off.

[PHJIndy]

My sister & her family are sitting on their plane on the tarmac @ Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta. There are tornados in the area and they won't let them off the plane.

What worse place can you be in a tornado???

The same thing happened to me in Tampa just a couple weeks ago.
It was very scary. It cost us a three hour delay, and a very bumpy ride home, but we arrived safely.

[Truth Detector]

They made it.

Why wouldn't they put those people back in the building???

[SoDak_IndyFan]

Happened to me in Indy a few years back. Glad everyone's OK TD.

[TM1511]

They made it.

Why wouldn't they put those people back in the building???

Quite possibly, especially at a large airport like Atlanta, there was no available gate.

[indyracefan]

Quite possibly, especially at a large airport like Atlanta, there was no available gate.

...that would make sense.

Perhaps this incident is something that needs some study and thought put into for the future, as far as having some kind of immediate emergency disembarkation plan in the event of a disaster.

[Canth]

Oh, I don't know...at least you wouldn't have to worry as much about glass like at the terminal. Really though, I don't think there is a good answer to that problem. Limited space at gates, overcrowding in terminals if/when you disembark all the planes, plus the problems of trying to get everyone back on board and on the right plane once the airport gets the all clear. Sort of a lose-lose situation for the airlines and airports.

[TM1511]

Oh, I don't know...at least you wouldn't have to worry as much about glass like at the terminal. Really though, I don't think there is a good answer to that problem. Limited space at gates, overcrowding in terminals if/when you disembark all the planes, plus the problems of trying to get everyone back on board and on the right plane once the airport gets the all clear. Sort of a lose-lose situation for the airlines and airports.

Well said.

[Truth Detector]

Oh, I don't know...at least you wouldn't have to worry as much about glass like at the terminal. Really though, I don't think there is a good answer to that problem. Limited space at gates, overcrowding in terminals if/when you disembark all the planes, plus the problems of trying to get everyone back on board and on the right plane once the airport gets the all clear. Sort of a lose-lose situation for the airlines and airports.

Well said as long as you're not on the plane.

An airplane on the tarmac is an incredibly unsafe place to be when a tornado is headed your way. Open the GD gate and get me off of the GD plane. Figure the rest out later.

[TM1511]

Well said as long as you're not on the plane.

An airplane on the tarmac is an incredibly unsafe place to be when a tornado is headed your way. Open the GD gate and get me off of the GD plane. Figure the rest out later.

When there is lightning detected within a few miles of the airport, the ground crews are prohibited from going out on the ramp for fear of them being struck by lightning. This might have been the case here. Planes need to be marshalled into the gate by ground crews. Hard to bring a plane into the gate without someone to marshall it in.

In the time it would've taken to bring the plane into the gate and try and unload, the storm would've either hit the airport, or passed.

I really don't think much else could've been done in this situation. The gates were most likely full and the ground crews weren't coming out to marshall the plane in.

[indyracefan]

...in a sense I agree with Canth as he presents a good defense and argument. However I also share the same feelings as TD in that being trapped on an airplane in the event of a tornado striking is certainly not where I would want to be or wish others to be either.

One might think with all the confusion that would be caused by such an event, and that the possibility of such a disaster happening isn't totally out of the realm is perhaps all the more reason that some thought should be considered for the future.

[Truth Detector]

Exactly, IRF. I don't know how you do it because it isn't my job to think it through but if I had customers on an airplane on the tarmac with a tornado coming I'd insist on a plan to get them off the plane & inside the terminal.

[fivehundred2go]

Some times there just aren't good answers available.