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Passengers Stuck on Runway Have No Recourse

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 13, 2009 12:52 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The passengers who spent 5.5 hours trapped inside a plane in Rochester, Minn., last weekend didn’t revolt. But if they had, they could have wound up in trouble with the law, USA Today reports. Federal aviation laws give airlines sole authority over whether passengers stay on a plane or get off—anyone attempting to disembark on their own could be slapped with a $25,000 fine.

More than 200,000 passengers have been stuck inside planes for 3 hours or more since 2007. “You are their property, and you have lost your rights inside the plane,” says one lawyer who was on that headline-grabbing flight from—theoretically—Houston to Minneapolis. But the incident has prompted a Transportation Department investigation, and it could lend momentum to the Passenger Bill of Rights legislation currently idling in Congress.

In this Jan. 30, 2009 file photo, a Continental Airlines jet is wheeled on the tarmac at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
In this Jan. 30, 2009 file photo, a Continental Airlines jet is wheeled on the tarmac at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.   (AP Photo/Robert Graves)
A Continental Airlines jet takes off from Houston in this file photo.
A Continental Airlines jet takes off from Houston in this file photo.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 8 comments
Silverbow7
Aug 13, 2009 9:52 AM CDT
To bad you who know how, were not on that plane to show those trapped people how to pop the slide. I have no idea how to do it. I'd like to know how. Anyone want to give directions?
cognitivefilter
Aug 13, 2009 8:36 AM CDT
ain't nobody gonna slap a $25000 fine on me if i want to get out of a stale air death box. hop right down that inflatable raft.
larryinLA
Aug 13, 2009 6:54 AM CDT
They were in the sardine can...they are sheep too.

 
airline industry • Continental Airlines • passenger's bill of rights • airline passenger's bill of rights • Federal Aviation Administration • ExpressJet Airlines • Rochester, Minn.

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