This is your pilot slurring: Garbled message from cockpit sparks passenger rebellion

[Turborama]

Source: The Independent (UK)

By Shaun Walker in Moscow

Wednesday, 4 February 2009

Spending 10 hours aboard a plane is never a particularly fun prospect, but it becomes downright terrifying when the pilot appears to be so drunk that he can't speak properly.

It has emerged that passengers aboard an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to New York were greeted by a welcome announcement from the pilot, Alexander Cheplevsky, that was so garbled it was impossible to tell what language he was speaking. They became so scared that a group of passengers demanded to see the man at the controls to check whether or not he was drunk.

Mr Cheplevsky refused to leave the cockpit to reassure the passengers, who were told by the crew they should either stop complaining or get off the plane. The Moscow Times, which had a reporter on board the plane, claimed that an Aeroflot representative boarded the aircraft and told the passengers it wasn't a big deal if the pilot was drunk.

"Really, all he has to do is press a button and the plane flies itself," the representative allegedly said. "The worst that could happen is he'll trip over something in the cockpit."

Unsurprisingly, this did not reassure the passengers, but the crew simply told them to "stop making trouble". The incident, on 28 December, was only resolved with the help of Ksenia Sobchak, a television presenter, who happened to be on the plane. She made a few phone calls and after a delay of several hours, the pilots were replaced and flight 315 took off.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/this-is-your-pilot-slurring-garbled-message-from-cockpit-sparks-passenger-rebellion-1544993.html

[Richardo]

1. Why anyone would set foot on an Aeroflot plane is beyond me

[riqster]

3. Leaving Moscow, that gives one the most viable flight options

...not that Pooty-Poot would be rigging things in favor of the national carrier, no, of COURSE not...

[Richardo]

5. I'd be tempted to walk. Barefoot. In the winter.

[riqster]

8. I gotta admit, Moscow is one of the least inviting tourist destinations on the planet

..lawless, with corrupt everything. I'd sooner go to Antarctica. Safer.

[Zywiec]

13. Have you ever been to Moscow?

I've been there many times and absolutely love it.

One day, I had my 75 year old mother fly in to meet me at one airport, while my wife and kids came into another airport.

It was a trip of a lifetime for my mother to stand on Red Square and see St. Basils.

My kids saw a rock concert on Red Square, while my ballerina daughter saw both the Bolshoi and Marinsky theaters.

Of course, not everyone is cut out for travel. How is Disney World?

[riqster]

14. I hate The Mouse, in fact.

My travel has mostly been to impoverished areas of Mexico, with some trips to the UK and Europe to visit family.

No I have not been to Moscow, but have heard tell from co-workers. Evidently, their experiences were not representative. :hi:

[Zywiec]

16. Maybe your co-workers just stayed in their hotels and didn't see the real Moscow.

I was staying once at the Hotel Rossiya and met a guy from Belgium at the bar who was in Moscow for business. He hadn't seen a thing in town. I took him out and showed him how to use the metro and we hit one of the craziest clubs in town. When I left around 4:30 am, he was dancing on a table singing "The World is Mine".

The only bad thing that happened on one of my trips is my son taking a picture in the St. Petersburg metro and the police waiting for us at the top of the escalator. That picture cost us a couple of dollars. Other than that, it's great!

:hi:

[riqster]

18. Thanks for the insight!

I'll think differently in the future.

[illuminaughty]

21. Traveling alone provides the best opportunities to see

a country in a non-touristy way. I did it for years. Always wanted to go to Russia to see the Moiseyev ballet. Your trip sounds great. I've flown Lot (Polish) Airlines while still under communist rule and Ethiopian Airlines. Both were unique experiences but I never felt my safety jeopardized.

[Mika]

23. Looks like you've never been to Miami.

Most corrupt place in the world. Worst, most corrupt airport also.

[riqster]

27. I dunno about the airport, at least

Ever been to some of the smaller Mexican airports? HooBoy....

[adadem]

25. I disagree

Once you get out of the airport it's a beautiful place. The average citizen is just like us and very welcoming.

[ogneopasno]

4. Usually the international flights are OK, but apparently not this one.

Usually it's the internal ones where you kiss your ass goodbye.

[treestar]

28. I have the impression that using the trains domestically would

be better anyway. I'd love to go there.

[ogneopasno]

29. Oh, it depends...sometimes you need to get where you're going quickly. If you can pay for a nice

berth, the train is awesome. If not, it can be a nightmare as well. But yeah, the internal flight is a bit much. I was on one flight where someone's seat belt didn't work. He asked a flight attendant for help. She just kind of looked at him, leaned over, and tied it in a knot around his belly. Classic.

[Zywiec]

11. I've flown them several times without any problem

but trying to understand their English was also quite a challenge.

[adadem]

26. Agree with you

Only twice, but both times were no different that using an American carrier. A matter of fact the food was much better than on Delta or American.

[riqster]

2. Sheesh. Almost as bad as ValuJet... nt

[WriteDown]

6. Possible quote...

"Hello paggensers. Please suckle your beatbelts."

[Turborama]

30. LOL, good one.

:toast:

[Connie_Corleone]

7. So the pilot was drunk. What's the big deal? What's the worst that can happen?

:crazy: :eyes:

[antimatter98]

9. Sounds like US regulation to me. n/t

[TwilightGardener]

10. Yeargh! Stop complainin', ya lily-livered sissies, or we'll make ya walk the plank!

[acmavm]

12. Or ride on the wing.

[Bonobo]

15. See what would happen in America. No passenger protection here either.

Try a "rebellion" here. Even after sitting on the tarmac for 8 hours with no food. You are likely to be tasered and then hog-tied. No joke.

[Mika]

24. Yes. The passengers actually got a response and some action.

In Freedom Fries America you'd be put on a no fly list.

[Politicalboi]

17. Good thing Capt. Sully wasn't drunk

What kind of business can run with drunk pilots? For the most part pilots can sleep while in flight and that wouldn't bother me once were up and going. But too many times planes crash either on take off or landing.

[catbyte]

19. Flew it in 1976

and the flight from Moscow to Kiev was the most terrifying experience of my life! The pilot must have been an old WWII stick jockey because he didn't seem to understand the concept of a gradual landing. We went literally from 10,000 ft to the ground in seconds. Unbelievable! Back then, Aeroflot was about the only way to get to the USSR. PanAm had a few flights a week, but it was mostly Aeroflot. The flight from Kiev to Leningrad wasn't nearly as traumatic. Ah, the Soviet Union. I was in Moscow on July 4, 1976, the Bicentennial. We came back to the US on July 5, and the tall ships were still in New York harbor. That was cool.

Anyway, I'd hoped they'd cleaned up their act by now, but apparently not...:shrug:

Diane

[ConcernedCanuk]

20. So what? - The USA had a President like that for 8 years, started global wars

.
.
.

and hard pressed to make one speech without fubars . . .

So if a drunken idiot is allowed to run the most powerful nation in the world

Why not let them fly airplanes?

GEEEE!

fussy fussy people . . .

[slampoet]

22. Good thing this wasn't the USA. The passengers would have been charged with Terrorism.