Woman says airline wouldn't allow her to call suicidal husband

If this is really how it played out, this is gonna be bad. I am usually on the airlines side in controversies, not this time.
 
In this particular case, were it me, I would have dialed 911, not the person who threatened suicide. She cannot help the person by talking on the phone or texting him back. And 911 would resolve the issue with the FA.
 
mikeinbama said:
If this is really how it played out, this is gonna be bad. I am usually on the airlines side in controversies, not this time.
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Yeah, SWA has become just another Major. A far cry from the airline Herb built.
 
mikeinbama said:
If this is really how it played out, this is gonna be bad. I am usually on the airlines side in controversies, not this time.
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I agree. The airline acknowledged that the FA did not notify the Captain, which they admit is a violation of their own procedures (as well as common sense I'd say). It's hard to make that seem responsible, especially because it seems that the plane was still on the ground when Ms. Momsen-Evers informed the FA of the emergency.

Rich
 
The flight attendant should be arrest for slapping the phone out of the woman's hands. No one has the right to touch another person in anger.

Tony
 
It sounds like a full refund for the flight was offered.
 
MotoFlier said:
It sounds like a full refund for the flight was offered.
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Big deal.
She should have been offered free air travel for life.
(if, as pointed out by someone else, it all played out as reported". Perhaps in her anxious state, she failed to disclose the seriousness or content of the situation).
 
Letting the passenger call or even to get off would not have assured a different outcome. People are blaming the airline for the problem. Clearly they had nothing to do with it. Their behavior may have been unpopular but it's supported by regulation. If I had been the woman I'd have made a scene that got me removed from the flight. These days that would be pretty simple to do.
 
JOhnH said:
Big deal.
She should have been offered free air travel for life.
(if, as pointed out by someone else, it all played out as reported". Perhaps in her anxious state, she failed to disclose the seriousness or content of the situation).
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FA are usually pretty good at dealing with ****oles, I picture someone shoving a phone in his/her face "See See" Wa-pow, der goes da Iphone.
 
MotoFlier said:
FA are usually pretty good at dealing with ****oles, I picture someone shoving a phone in his/her face "See See" Wa-pow, der goes da Iphone.
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Yeah, they are good at dealing with ****oles,
But they are not so good at dealing with polite passengers.
I was talking with an ex-Delta FA that laughed that they are taught how NOT to make eye contact with passengers trying to get their attention.

Any time I tried to make a request of a FA other than when they were asking me if I wanted pretzels or cookies for dinner, they pretty much blew me off. Often rudely.
eg:
Me: Can I have a bottle of water.
FA: Go back to your seat and ask the FA when they get to you.

And most FAs are old and/or ugly to boot.

That's why I like flying Bonanza air line.
 
silver-eagle said:
In this particular case, were it me, I would have dialed 911, not the person who threatened suicide. She cannot help the person by talking on the phone or texting him back. And 911 would resolve the issue with the FA.
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When seconds count, the authorities are just minutes away. However, I do see your point.
 
Stewartb said:
If I had been the woman I'd have made a scene that got me removed from the flight. These days that would be pretty simple to do.
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True, that seems like the best course of action. But is there a chance they would then detain you for awhile (as a security risk) and not let you use a phone?
 
F01LA said:
True, that seems like the best course of action. But is there a chance they would then detain you for awhile (as a security risk) and not let you use a phone?
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She wasn't allowed to use the phone anyway, so this way she might at least have a chance.
 
To me the notion that making a phone call would be how a loving spouse would respond is ridiculous. They'd take whatever action was necessary to GET there. This seems a little bit staged to me. That a wife thinks a phone call as she flies off is a solution. If that was me there's no way they could've kept my on that plane and every passenger on board would know why. They'd have had to remove me and every other passenger would have been supporting my removal.
 
What is missing in this discussion for me, is, why did the husband text in the first place?

Obviously he KNEW she was about to depart, can't think of a time when I wouldn't know my wife was on a plane... If his goal was to really ask for forgiveness, he could have done that with a pencil and a piece of paper.

The real story for me, is this guy WANTED his wife to hurt for the entire flight. That has nothing to do with SWA.

Very sad, and very selfish.
 
Stewartb said:
To me the notion that making a phone call would be how a loving spouse would respond is ridiculous. They'd take whatever action was necessary to GET there. This seems a little bit staged to me. That a wife thinks a phone call as she flies off is a solution. If that was me there's no way they could've kept my on that plane and every passenger on board would know why. They'd have had to remove me and every other passenger would have been supporting my removal.
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You realize she was over 1000 miles away, and headed home, right?

She needed to be on that flight. Events proved that just going there first was not the correct solution.

Whether it's the "best" solution or not is beside the point. The solution chosen by the FA was clearly wrong, and the results bear that out.

Had I been in that situation, I'd want a pro helping out, so a call to 911 to get the cops and/or paramedics there immediately would have been my choice. Though if you've ever dealt with a suicidal individual, that's going to have consequences -- worth it IMO, but significant. A few hour flight to start dealing with it is not acceptable.
 
retailguy said:
What is missing in this discussion for me, is, why did the husband text in the first place?

Obviously he KNEW she was about to depart, can't think of a time when I wouldn't know my wife was on a plane... If his goal was to really ask for forgiveness, he could have done that with a pencil and a piece of paper.

The real story for me, is this guy WANTED his wife to hurt for the entire flight. That has nothing to do with SWA.

Very sad, and very selfish.
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Suicide is always selfish. And sometimes excessively dramatic.
 
Stewartb said:
To me the notion that making a phone call would be how a loving spouse would respond is ridiculous. They'd take whatever action was necessary to GET there. This seems a little bit staged to me. That a wife thinks a phone call as she flies off is a solution. If that was me there's no way they could've kept my on that plane and every passenger on board would know why. They'd have had to remove me and every other passenger would have been supporting my removal.
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Staged?

So... you suspect that:


  • The husband planned his suicide in advance.
  • The wife knew about this and endorsed the plan, and the two of them concocted a plan to maximize the benefits of the suicide.
  • The suicide was timed so that the wife would receive the text exactly when her flight was ready to depart, which is kind of hard to predict with precision unless hubby was watching from the terminal.
  • The wife knew in advance that the FA would not let her call the husband (nor anyone else) even after being informed about the impending suicide.
  • The wife also knew that the FA would make the rather illogical decision to do nothing when confronted with a pax who obviously had huge reason and potential to become agitated and emotionally distressed during a flight that had not yet left the ground.
  • Not only that, but the wife also predicted in advance that the FA would not contact the Captain in-flight to ask whether the plane's emergency phone could be used to call the husband and/or the authorities, which said decision would also defy logic, company policy, possibly the FARs for Part 121 WRT to passengers in distress, and human decency.
  • And they did this... why?

It sounds kind of far-fetched to me.

Rich
 
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MAKG1 said:
Whether it's the "best" solution or not is beside the point. The solution chosen by the FA was clearly wrong, and the results bear that out.
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This. The outcome may not have been different, but that was NOT the FA's call. From the details that we are given it appears that the woman asked if the flight crew could make an emergency call once airborne.

According to the interview, Evers was not able to call from the plane despite asking again if there was a way for the crew to make an emergency phone call once the flight was airborne.
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Southwest Airlines' own statement indicates the FA should have notified the Captain and failed to do so.
 
MAKG1 said:
Suicide is always selfish. And sometimes excessively dramatic.
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sometimes?

Look, I realize that the wife and surviving family are really hurting and looking to blame anyone except the husband, but we all do society a great harm by deflecting blame so someone feels better.

Suicide is always selfish, even when the person is "mentally damaged" or "really hurting".

Who cares what SWA did or didn't do? It isn't the problem.
 
If it becomes common knowledge that someone can claim an emergerncy and "I need to make a call right now" as the plane is pushing back or in taxi - not a singe flight will get off on or near time while the fleabrains tell their friends/boss/spouse/lover how their day is going.
 
What ever happened to just being a decent human being? I can't imagine a scenario where this woman would fake this? How do you not at least notify the pilot and make the call to 911?

So sad.
 
I fly SWA (A-list yada yada), UA, and Delta a lot and can honestly say I prefer SWA every time I can fly them. They are on-time just about every flight, and the FAs and Pilots seem to be nicer and make the job as fun as possible. Heck, the last flight I was on, upon arriving at the gate in Tulsa, the pilot plays "Don Williams - Tulsa Time" over the intercom.

In this situation, I feel like there's probably a lot of the story missing. Did this text come at the gate, or while taxiing? Obviously if the passenger had followed the instructions, her phone would have been in airplane mode from the time the door closed. If she received this text prior to door-closing, why would she simply accept the FA's instruction not to call her husband and/or 911 to try and prevent the suicide?! If it's me, and I have someone attempting suicide or any other situation which requires immediate action, I'm not listening to a FA about cell phone use and I'll take my chances with the authorities/consequences.

If the passenger made it known the severity of the situation, she should have notified the pilot, but we don't know what information the FA was provided at that time. Tough to side with SWA or the passenger at this point as it seems there are a number of details not provided in the story.
 
SWA said:
Southwest issued a statement saying... Flight attendants are trained to notify the Captain if there is an emergency that poses a hazard to the aircraft or to the passengers on-board. In this situation, the pilots were not notified."
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This emergency did not endanger the safety of the flight or the passengers.
 
I would definitely allow her several extra bags of peanuts and three to four cokes, n/c
 
orange said:
When did SWA admit that? :confused:
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SWA's statement copied from the story....

“Our hearts go out to the Evers family during this difficult time. Our flight attendants are trained to notify the Captain if there is an emergency that poses a hazard to the aircraft or to the passengers on-board. In this situation, the pilots were not notified.”
 
Ok, so you copied and pasted the same quote that I did. So again, where do they admit to some procedural mistake? I think you are inferring something that doesn't exist from their statement.

This situation (I wouldn't call it an emergency) did NOT "pose a hazard to the aircraft or to the passengers on-board".
 
SoonerAviator said:
I fly SWA (A-list yada yada), UA, and Delta a lot and can honestly say I prefer SWA every time I can fly them. They are on-time just about every flight, and the FAs and Pilots seem to be nicer and make the job as fun as possible. Heck, the last flight I was on, upon arriving at the gate in Tulsa, the pilot plays "Don Williams - Tulsa Time" over the intercom.

In this situation, I feel like there's probably a lot of the story missing. Did this text come at the gate, or while taxiing? Obviously if the passenger had followed the instructions, her phone would have been in airplane mode from the time the door closed. If she received this text prior to door-closing, why would she simply accept the FA's instruction not to call her husband and/or 911 to try and prevent the suicide?! If it's me, and I have someone attempting suicide or any other situation which requires immediate action, I'm not listening to a FA about cell phone use and I'll take my chances with the authorities/consequences.

If the passenger made it known the severity of the situation, she should have notified the pilot, but we don't know what information the FA was provided at that time. Tough to side with SWA or the passenger at this point as it seems there are a number of details not provided in the story.
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Your description sounds like the Southwest of about 10 years ago. Today, I'll take Delta ANY day over SWA.
 
I guess I'd be in jail because I would have ***** slapped the FA. :mad:
 
orange said:
Ok, so you copied and pasted the same quote that I did. So again, where do they admit to some procedural mistake? I think you are inferring something that doesn't exist from their statement.

This situation (I wouldn't call it an emergency) did NOT "pose a hazard to the aircraft or to the passengers on-board".
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It posed a hazard to one, and perhaps more had she freaked out in flight. Would you want to be seated next to a woman who thinks (and in this case correctly) that her husband may in the process of offing himself, and that the crew of the plane she's riding in won't even make a phone call on her behalf?

Or do you interpret SWA's statement as meaning that the Captain should only be notified if all the passengers are at risk, not just one, or two, or ten? How many pax have to be at risk before the FA should get on the horn with the driver according to your interpretation?

Rich
 
I don't care what the rules say, if you are presented with a situation like that and blindly follow rules/procedures without acting on it that's absolutely horrible and unacceptable.

We're literally talking about a person's life here. I don't care if they just rolled out onto the runway and have to abort a takeoff.... the crew, passengers, and profits can wait 5 minutes so she can save her husband's life for god sakes.

If I ever got a text like that, I'd either make my phone call or be dragged off the flight in restraints. Rules be damned.
 
I kinda side with the airline here...except the slap the phone part. I side with them in the sense that I fly commercially a lot and see all the crap and sob stories that FAs have to put up with. There are rules and they are there to enforce them.

Now with that said, I say I am on the side of the airlines because I believe that the woman should have taken a bit of personal responsibility and just stood up and taken the call and dealt with the consequences later. You don't ask permission in a situation like that...thay can't give it...you just do it and deal with the repercussions if there are any.

When the seat belt sign is on...you are not supposed to get up to go to the bathroom, and they will tell you that but will not physically stop you. Literally yesterday I saw a woman get up and the FA tole her "Ma'am, the seat belt sign is on, please remain seated"..."I am about to explode" the woman replied, I can't go?"..."The captain has the seat belt sign on for your safety and the safety of others. I can't give you permission but you can make and decision based on that information"...and to the head she went.

Though that was the best way I ever heard to give permission without giving permission.

I kinda feel like there is more back story missing here if her fear of violating a law or FA instruction outweighed her fear of losing her husband.

She should have made that call.
 
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Shawn said:
I kinda side with the airline here...except the slap the phone part. I side with them in the sense that I fly commercially a lot and see all the crap and sob stories that FAs have to put up with. There are rules and they are there to enforce them.
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So are you on the side of the airline, or the FA? 'Cuz the airline has said that the FA acted incorrectly.
 
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