American Airlines Emergency Landing

I just got back from a very relaxing and fun vacation, but I wanted to document how my trip got started, how I received the biggest scare of my life.

The trip started well, we left an hour earlier than usual to fight the I95 Connecticut traffic. The morning was heavier than usual, coupled with heavy New York traffic, and needless to say an extra hour wasn't enough. I had insisted to fly out of NY to avoid lay overs; after all, one plane ride is more than enough for me. I can't wait for the teleporting days. Silly me, we took off on time, a big WOW for American Airlines which always seems to be delay. However, soon after all went down hill. First I come to find out that the movie of choice is "The Devil Wears Prada." Then comes the always disappointing meal. Lastly, we are surprised by smoke alarms, soon after with a cabin full of smoke and a horrendous smell of burn rubber and wire. We quickly noticed flight attendants running up and down the aisles, one after another, back and forth, desperately seeking and finally carrying fire extinguishers. We are informed by a lady's voice, no need to panic, everything is under control. We caught the culprit, a passenger smoking in the bathroom. Everyone cheers, and chants thrown him down the tube into jail. We are reminded that smoking is prohibited in the cabin, in the bathroom, and in the plane all together. Silly us, after all these planes still have the antiquated non-smoking signs on the plane.

The tension goes down, yet alarms, bells, and whistles are still going. The Captain gets on the horn, barks, buckle seat belts, attendants please prepare for emergency landing. We now realize that the tales of a person in the bathroom breaking the rules, is but a curtain of smoked. We've been had! We are instructed on procedures for not breaking our neck in case of a crash. We are told we are to prepare for the worst, but we have received news of permission to land on nearby Daytona, FL international airport. The pilot makes what appears to be a very smooth landing and we are escorted by five fire trucks down the runway. We are told this is standard procedure, but that the fire threat no longer exists as the attendants managed to take care of it. The same attendants which informed us that a person smoking had caused the damage. Yes, we are five years of age and we believe in Santa, the Easter bunny, and all fairy tales to be true as we remain in our seats as instructed. We further do so for another two hours as we are informed that we cannot disembark as we are now in an airport without customs clearance or personnel that can clear those passengers which are not US Citizens.

After a few more minutes, we are now working on two and a half hours, and the natives become very restless, as we are informed that we are to prepare for take off. Passengers start to riot and ask for another plane, they do not wish to continue the journey on this duct taped plane, as we were informed earlier that American Airlines had no hub in this airport. Delta was gracious enough to let an American Airlines mechanic, who miraculous happened to be flying on our plane, borrow some tools and had certified the plane. Delta mechanics, of course, were not allowed to touch or inspect the planes due to potential lawsuits and could obviously cause cross-airlines mishaps.

After the twenty minutes of shouting and screaming, we are informed that we can get off the plane; however, we are responsible for our safety, transportation and the likes in order to achieve our destination. This is quickly corrected to we will secure a bus to transport you to nearby, an hour and a half away, Orlando, FL airport where American Airlines will do wonders and try and get you to your destination by the following day's evening or two days later. At this point I don't know who or what to believe, I opted for disembarking, at worst, I could rent a car, drive down to Miami, and hopefully get a different plane to transport me to my final destination, the Dominican Republic.

We decide to leave the plane along with 40 or so more passengers. We are escorted to a room by Delta and Airport immigration personnel, where we stayed another hour or so. The Delta folks were wonderful, they informed us on a minute-by-minute basis what was to become of us, they secure cool water and a pleasant stay at the small Daytona Airport. The defective plane takes off with our suitcases, inclusive of my Mother's pressure medication, as the airport seemed too small to have equipment which could manage to get our suitcases. The plane flew at a much lower altitude as the piece of equipment that caught the fire was the AC Unit, which which I learned, is in charge of pressurizing the plane.

Our luck now seems to be running much thinner as we are finally thrown onto a bus which has a door which won't close, and lucky me, I had the privilege of sitting on the first seat next to this door. We finally arrived at Orlando where we are, like cattle, push onto the American Airlines counter. We are greeted by an angry group of folks whom have been trying to rebook our new route. The cranky bunch informs us that we have inconvenience them and that we have been reallocated. A bunch via Orlando to Miami to DR, others from Orlando to San Juan, PR to the final Dominican Republic destination. Great Times! As well as arranging our travel the angry workers have arranged for us to stay at the Days Inn. We are given $10 vouchers per passenger to secure dinner at one of the hotel three restaurants. We arrive at the hotel to come to find out that it has no restaurants, it is in no way in shape to quickly accommodate 40+ people, but they try their best. We then are informed that the only folks who can accept these vouchers are Domino's Pizza. Oh Joy! I have been starved all day and I will get to chow down on some Cardboard Pizza. Does life gets any better? Well I leave we made the journey alive.

It becomes close to midnight when the delivery boy knocks on our door. We quickly eat as we are to board a plane at 7:30AM to Miami. We make it to the airport with a one a half hour lead to encounter the very strict security line. We are glad as it seems Orlando International is very serious at keeping the planes secure, this in comparison with the half ass checking conducted at JFK where there was no need for me to even take my laptop out of the bag, you can now imagine how secure you can feel next time you board an international flight out of JFK airport.

The one hour flight to Miami went without a hitch. We then make the twenty minute journey from one AA arrival terminal to catch our soon departing AA flight to our destination. The Miami airport could learn a thing or two from Dallas where they have golf carts that give you a ride for a very small nominal fee, but I appreciate the American Airlines' Floridians promoting exercise and health by making us do so much walking instead of coordinating connecting flight to be close to each other.

We arrived at our final destination 27 hours after the start of the JFK journey where our suitcases are happily awaiting for us. To my surprised nothing is missing and they have made it safe and sound.

A few days later, we each received and email from American Airlines informing us that their manager was concerned. It further stated "We are very sorry for all the difficulties you encountered when flight 635 made an unscheduled stop in Daytona Beach." AA further writes "In appreciation for your patience, we've added 7,000 Customer Service bonus miles to your AAdvantage® account."

I'm glad to hear that American Airlines was concerned that they inconvenience my arrival and put everything into perspective by valuing my safety at 7,000 miles, enough mileage for me to do half an upgrade to first class on my next trip. Thanks, but I think I will consider flying the now defunct Delta, which although going through some financial hardship, at least was kind enough to force American Airlines into allowing me to get off a plane which I considered unsafe and provided me with some comfort during a time of high stress. I have always flown AA, but have now come to experience their Customer Service during a time at which Customer Service really counts.

The bottom line is that I come from a world where the business runs because it has customers, not the customers come to the business to annoy us. I take care of my customers, I make sure I earn their business each time I service them. To have been mocked with such an email is a disgrace and a great shame placed on the Customer Service Team of American Airlines.