Blind woman abandoned on airplane

[The Straight Story]

A blind woman from Vancouver Island is not sure she'll ever fly alone again after she was forgotten by flight attendants and locked in a deserted plane at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

...

The 18-year-old was born blind and this was her third time flying by herself, so she thought she was familiar with some of the routines.

"I was instructed by the flight attendant to wait until everybody else got off the plane," said Cabot, 18, in an interview with CBC News from Jacksonville.

"That's what they tell me every time so I didn't think anything of it."

She said she heard the other passengers leave and then the unmistakable sound of the aircraft door being sealed shut.

"And then, just complete silence. And I started calling out with no response."

That's when she realized she was alone, she said. She had no idea how to open the plane's door or whether that would be a safe thing to do.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/05/13/bc-blind-woman-plane-cabot.html#ixzz0o2Vn5JNC

[Duer 157099]

1. I hope she peed all over the pilots seat n/t

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. ...

:scared:

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. Why did they not do a walkthrough?

I can see leaving your laptop in your seat, but this was a PERSON.

[havocmom]

22. Maybe person charged with walkthrough met a hot prospect en route?

In a rush to get somewhere else?

[havocmom]

23. Ah, United airlines. They make life such hell for employees, employees are maxed out too often

Mad employees = bad customer relations, but United just doesn't get it about job stress and customer relations.

There has long been a site for employees to vent, and employees/passengers to get a bit of info on rights at http://untied.com Always an interesting bunch of info and blown whistles.

[MadHound]

4. Love the lying apology that was issued

"We apologized to Ms. Cabot for the delay in providing her an escort, and have taken action with our employees and vendors at O'Hare to ensure this does not happen again,"

'Scuse me, it wasn't a delay in providing her an escort that's the problem, it's that you completely forgot about her and locked her onboard an empty plane you dumbfucks.

[Kadie]

10. No, no. It was a delay. The maintenance crew was to be her escort.

snip...
She said she was stuck for 10 minutes, uncertain what to do, but was found by a maintenance crew that happened to enter the aircraft.



Yea, Yea, That's the ticket.


:sarcasm:


Poor girl. She must have been scared to death.

[baldguy]

13. The people that vacuum the carpet, replenish the barf bags & take out the trash.

[MadHound]

15. Hell, if it was me, I would have gone up to the pilot's cabin

And started flipping switches until I either got the radio going or fired the plane itself up. That would have gotten their attention.

[Ruby the Liberal]

26. She is blind. She was afraid to touch the door. I can emphasize.

She has never seen a picture of a cockpit, much less know what to do if she reached it.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Holy crap! That is unforgiveable...!! Why wasn't she let off FIRST!!???

"Her family complained about the incident to United Airlines, which gave Cabot a $250 voucher for future travel."

They must be F***in kidding!! Why should she EVER step foot on another United plane again. I hope she sues their asses off!!

[Orrex]

9. +1,000,000

[havocmom]

24. People who need assistance are usually first on, last off

The human stampede as people push and shove to deplane is no place for anyone needing some help.

[RKP5637]

6. Given the airlines today, I'm not surprised, not at all... n/t

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. United Airlines Statement

What kind of crap is this?

"We apologized to Ms. Cabot for the delay in providing her an escort, and have taken action with our employees and vendors at O'Hare to ensure this does not happen again," the statement said.

Locking her in a plane obviously = "delay in providing an escort".

I hope the family sues the daylights out of them based on this response alone.

[cali]

11. Wouldn't she have to prove harm

for a viable suit? It was awful that the airline did this to her but I don't see where she was substantively harmed.

[jberryhill]

12. Correct

10 minutes of being locked in the plane. Unless she's developed a treated condition as a result, there's not much to sue over

[Ruby the Liberal]

14. I am not an attorney, but I would think there would be SOME negligence involved

What if it had been an unattended child waiting for an escort?

I hope they have some redress.

Poor girl.

[cali]

17. but negligence itself is not (as I understand it ) actionable unless it results in harm

[Ruby the Liberal]

27. PTSD. Whatever. Find something.

They should be accountable.

[cali]

38. look, they screwed up. but this is hardly the crime of the century

and their apology sucked, but I don't see that 10 minutes alone on an empty plane on the tarmac is grounds for a suit unless this young woman can prove damages. And that will be nigh on impossible. I don't think she should sue. I very much doubt she'd prevail.

[Codeine]

41. Accountable for what?

It was scary, but she was fine. Nobody was hurt.

[LiberalAndProud]

8. I'm glad it didn't last longer than 10 minutes.

That had to be a terrifying experience.

[damntexdem]

16. Law-suit city!

I hope United is stung big time on this one.

[cali]

18. unlikely. Unless she can prove harm

like she developed PTSD or something, she doesn't have a case. Yes, the airline screwed up, but a law suit over it seems pretty ridiculous.

[woo me with science]

19. I agree,

but this is the kind of case where you hope the airline has enough sense to decide on its own to provide some sort of compensation.

[Texasgal]

25. Maybe so..

Perhaps monies lost from a lawsuit would ensure this kind of thing dosen't happen again. :shrug:

[katzenjammers]

21. What a crappy society this would be if we couldn't sue someone every time we're inconvenienced.

...

[Ruby the Liberal]

30. Locking a blind person on a plane is an 'inconvenience' to you?

Please define negligence...

[skygazer]

32. Negligence

Duty, breach, causation, damages

All four elements must be proven to successfully bring a suit for negligence.

Duty - carrier had a duty to the passenger

Breach - that duty was breached

Causation - the breach was the direct (or proximate in some cases) cause of the ensuing damages

Damages - the passenger suffered specific harm in some way, monetary, physical or psychological


Well, she doesn't seem to have suffered monetary harm. If she suffered physical harm, it would be fairly straightforward. If she has suffered psychological harm, it's more problematical and more difficult to prove that a span of ten minutes could result in significant psychological harm.

I feel terrible for the girl too and think United sucks for not doing more to make amends but you can't just sue because you're pissed off - you need to have actually suffered damages. The court's are clogged enough as it is.

[Ruby the Liberal]

33. Thanks

[katzenjammers]

43. What part of unfortunate oversight is too abstruse for you?

Jesus, some of the people here are behaving like the airline DELIBERATELY went out of its way to terrify this kid...that's just goofy. People make mistakes, that doesn't automatically justify lawsuits...aren't we supposed to be AGAINST that kind of shit???

[Ruby the Liberal]

29. They offered $250 off a future flight

How much you wanna bet it came with "drop it" conditions?

[katzenjammers]

20. How terrible! I mean, we all know blind people are helpless without constant attention.

:shrug:

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[katzenjammers]

40. I was told this forum was a refuge for progressive and intelligent people.

Apparently my friend lied to me.

Yeah, let's just treat every 'challenged' person as a helpless invalid who can't ever deal with a little discomfort.

If that's a rule to be a member here, I sure as hell don't want any part of it.

[panzerfaust]

50. Bye

"can't ever deal with a little discomfort."

Not quite the same as being locked in an aircraft.

You goose and duck.

[WinkyDink]

51. SHE WAS LOCKED ALONE ON A PLANE. BLIND.

[WinkyDink]

53. Who cares? (That's to your "don't want any part of " DU.)

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The Straight Story]

34. Perhaps you are helpless without attention? (nt)

[BuelahWitch]

45. I think you nailed it!

:rofl:

[AwakeAtLast]

36. Did you read the part about the flight attendants instructing her to wait?

She followed their request. How does that make her helpless?

:shrug:

[katzenjammers]

42. My 'helpless' comment was meant to be in jest. My 38 year old son blind since age 5

flies and is told the same thing normally. He has very good hearing and knows when the other passengers have left the area of his seat. There is, I believe, more to this story...blind people are NOT helpless and I think there are people here who want us to treat them as if they were. To the extent there was a breakdown in communication, I find it virtually inconceivable that this young lady would freak out after a few minutes of relative silence without taking some action. Perhaps she lacks the skills to function the way most blind folks mainly take for granted...

[Gormy Cuss]

46. "Perhaps she lacks the skills to function the way most blind folks mainly take for granted..."

There you go --a valid reason why THIS blind person may have needed assistance even though your son would have managed just fine.

She's only 18 and may have lead a far more sheltered life than your son and other blind people who were provided with the supports necessary to learn how to function independently.

[WinkyDink]

52. Why are you coming down so hard on a blind 18-yr-old girl in a UNIQUE situation?

HOW DO YOU OR YOUR SON KNOW HOW HE WOULD HAVE REACTED?????

[katzenjammers]

54. I didn't mean to 'come down' on her. The story QUOTED her as saying

"That's what they tell me every time so I didn't think anything of it."

That seems to indicate she considers herself a reasonably well seasoned traveler, EVEN for a blind person. "Every TIME"??? Would she even say that if she was uncomfortable?...I don't think so.

Nobody here seems able to respond to my question...why should we treat 'blind' people as being more or less helpless? Isn't that the very OPPOSITE of how progressive Democrats are putatively required to think????????????

I feel like I'm in Alice's Wonderland here...

[Quantess]

55. Please understand, you're a low post count newbie,

so any poorly thought out posts will result in a pig-pile-on.

[ljm2002]

35. Sounds to me like she needed a cell phone...

...if she had a cell phone on her she could have called someone. She could have called United, or the airport she was at, or the local police for assistance.

[DeSwiss]

37. K&R

United Airlines is the only company that I am aware of, which seems to actively hate their customers -- and yet at the same time they are somehow able to remain in business.

- Their company motto should say: "United Airlines: we don't give a shit what you think, either give us your money or fuck off!!!"

See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo">United Breaks Guitars

[Liberal_in_LA]

44. why does a blind person have to be the last to leave the plane?

[Codeine]

47. The noise and jostling

can be fairly disorienting. We always wait until concerts are fairly emptied out before we leave with my little sister because people bumping her in ways that we might not even notice can throw her senses off.

[Liberal_in_LA]

48. Oh, I see. Thanks for the info.

[aikoaiko]

49. Sounds like someone missed that last item on the check list.

And they only gave her $250 and a lame apology for "delayed" escort.