Air France: Out of Gas? Ask Passengers to Pitch In

[muriel_volestrangler]

An emergency layover in Syria's capital was bad enough. Then passengers on Air France Flight 562 were asked to open their wallets to check if they had enough cash to pay for more fuel.

The plane, heading from Paris to Lebanon's capital, diverted amid tensions near the Beirut airport on Wednesday. Low on fuel, it instead landed in Damascus, the capital of neighboring Syria, where a civil war is raging.

An Air France spokesman explained Friday that the crew inquired about passenger cash only as a "precautionary measure" because of the "very unusual circumstances." Sanctions against Syria complicated payment for extra fuel.
...
"The pilot asked the passengers in first class to get their cash together. Everyone started to collect money, and they managed to collect 17,000, but the pilot in the end didn't take anything. They resolved the problems with the Damascus airport," said a passenger speaking on France-Info radio identified as May Bsat.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_DIVERTED_FLIGHT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Hassin Bin Sober]

1. That's not the first time something like that has happened.

If an airliner makes an unscheduled stop at an airport where they don't have an account arrangements have to be made. Sometimes only cash will do.