Diversion tactics

Yet another hotel on a sunny island... except this one is not so sunny! I always feel sorry for my passengers when this happens. They have their shorts ready, beach bags to hand and sun cream pre-applied, only to arrive in torrential rain, snow on the mountains and a wind chill factor that makes leaving Scandanavia seem slightly pointless! We try to soften the blow on our final PA by saying "the weather is due to improve and should be nice for the rest of the week". We have no idea if this is true or not but it stops them leaving the aircraft looking glum and instead puts a hopeful and determined smile firmly on their faces. Is it wrong? Possibly. Bending the truth? Definitely. Hurting anyone? Absolutely not.

As pilots we have a strange relationship with the passengers. A dismembered voice that is heard once or twice throughout the flight with a reassurance that someone is still in charge up there and everything is going as planned. A voice of authority that passengers instinctively trust. Sometimes though, the natural "fight or flight" instinct gets the better of a few and when things don't go to plan, people start to react in very strange ways. The worst is when the option to run is taken away. There aren't a lot of places you can go in a sealed aluminium tube that is 35,000ft in the air, but it hasn't stopped people trying. Luckily for us, you can't physically open a door in flight, and I dread to think what could happen if that wasn't the case. In this situation the "fight" mentality rules and I imagine this is no surprise to some. We have all been sitting next to or behind that person who has had a little too much to drink, or who thinks the way to get attention is to talk over everyone else and generally act like a petulant child. Unfortunately these are the first warning signs that something more sinister could occur. Amazingly on one of my flights this happened before we had even left the ground and a full riot broke out in the back, sadly it was only after a cabin crew member got punched in the stomach that the riot police arrived and managed to control the situation.

When something out of the ordinary occurs on the ground then the option of "flight" is restored and many people take it. I diverted two nights ago from our intended destination due to the weather being below limits. We went to a nearby airfield and kept the passengers informed throughout. We planned to get some more fuel and go back once the weather had improved. There was no stress, no reason to worry and a logical mind would say that it was the correct and safe decision. Logic seems to be lost on some though. 17 people wanted to disembark as they were scared that we would crash while attempting to land in bad weather. Did we not just say that we DIDN'T land for exactly that reason?! One woman hurried up to the flight deck and launched a tirade about how we had traumatised her infant and how it would forever more be terrified of flying and it was all our fault. Said infant was about 8 months old and fast asleep in mothers arms, totally oblivious to the time of day let alone the city we were in. Needless to say, she got off!

So should i be sitting here lamenting the loss if a happy flyer? Or repenting for lying to the passengers about the weather? Frankly no. Those that stayed onboard were safely flown back to the destination less than an hour later and right now, the sun is shining, the clouds have cleared and once more pilots are truthful citizens of the world.