A little over a week ago a US Airways flight from Venice to Philadelphia diverted to Dublin due to nine crew members becoming sick. That seems a bit odd since it was only crew members and not passengers that became sick, though apparently it was due to some fumes in the galley.
Well, just nine days later a US Airways flight from — you guessed it — Venice to Philadelphia diverted to — you guessed it — Dublin after — you guessed it — crew members reported feeling sick.
Via The Aviation Herald:
A US Airways Airbus A330-200, registration N289AY performing flight US-715 from Venice (Italy) to Philadelphia,PA (USA) with 238 passengers and 12 crew, was enroute at FL400 about 180nm west of Shannon (Ireland) about to enter the Oceanic Crossing when the crew decided to turn around and divert due to a number of flight attendants becoming sick. The crew requested to divert to London Heathrow but was told that they would need to declare a medical PAN to get into Heathrow, otherwise they would need to divert to another airport. The crew decided to divert to Dublin (Ireland) and landed safely on Dublin’s runway 10 about 50 minutes later.
The airline reported 3 flight attendants reported medical issues and were evaluated by paramedics after landing.
Obviously we don’t know all the details here, but on the surface this sure as heck is interesting. It’s worth noting that the aircraft operating this flight was different than the one operating the flight nine days prior (this was N289AY, while previous flight was N284AY), so it had nothing to do with the plane as such.
I suppose maybe it had something to do with the conditions in Venice, maybe it had something to do with how they provision the plane in Venice, or maybe it’s an act of the Twilight Zone… we may never know!
So... When are you flying this route? ;)
@Bobo that is what I was thinking food poisoning same departure point, but I also have to agree with you could be crew strike or something odd but then again if it were a sick out wouldn't we see it on more Trans Atlantic both to and from?
The two most likely explanations, I think are - EITHER:
1. Crew labor action/protest of some sort (I have no doubt they probably have plenty of good reasons, but that's beside the point);
or
2. There is a local restaurant in Venice that is a real favorite of the US cabin crews, and they all eat there every chance they get. Food poisoning (quite common, actually).
@ Andrew, FWIW, some sort of protest by the crew was also the first thing I thought of the first time it happened.
@Mosteson PAN PAN is a level of distress below (less serious) MAYDAY. Indicates urgent, but not highest need.
An open-minded person will consider all possibilities, even those that may seem remote, until such possibilities can be eliminated with a degree of certainty. This is the process that the NTSB follows.
My post was not without precedent. Here is a link to a reprint from a WSJ article in 1999 that came to mind when I read that the issue occurred twice in a short period of time.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/1084-tired-pilots-leather-matress.html
Lastly, my post...
An open-minded person will consider all possibilities, even those that may seem remote, until such possibilities can be eliminated with a degree of certainty. This is the process that the NTSB follows.
My post was not without precedent. Here is a link to a reprint from a WSJ article in 1999 that came to mind when I read that the issue occurred twice in a short period of time.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/1084-tired-pilots-leather-matress.html
Lastly, my post was not made with malice nor with a desire for one outcome or another. Frankly, I am intrigued and hope that the root cause will be identified and rectified.
What is a medical PAN?
Aerotoxic syndrome?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerotoxic_syndrome
@SINJim, so given the same "limited information," to use your words, you think it's better to just spew random speculation that has no basis in reality, until evidence actually emerges? Rolling eyes.
@SINJim : it sure is beginning to look that way, right?
DUB has US and AA service to CLT, PHL, JFK, ORD
Given the limited information one cannot rule out at this point that the USAir crew are staging a sickout over some issues with management. If true, that is really poor of them since they are causing collateral damage to the other passengers and medics on the ground with ripples down the line.
Crew must be hitting the good stuff in Venice, as BA cabin crew have been known to do. See Pam Ann at 02:00, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwxAgoKi4k0
Thankfully, Pam Ann has a new in-flight uniform, http://pamann.com/
@BBTphile Probably because they can get more connections for passengers. Flights on AA/BA and also other flights on US to CLT/PHL
N289AY is one of the newest A330s that AWE has it was delivered back in like November of last year. Would be odd for it to already have issues with fumes and cabin leakages.
Any idea why they preferred to land in London?