Southwest passengers on flight with deadly engine failure get money, travel vouchers

ABC News ^ | 4/20/2018 | Courtney Han

[jyo19]

Just booked a new SWA flight today. Proud to have done it and I feel just as safe doing so as I did two weeks ago.

[Jane Long]

Air travel is safer than highway travel.

Southwest is one of, if not THE, safest airlines, in the US....maybe the world :)

[libh8er]

The most challenging thing about the flight was the psychological aspect of it. Unnerved passengers, broken window, engine blown, smoke beginning to fill the cabin, the rapid descent, a woman with half of her torso sticking out of the airplane .. - if you ignore all that, and a trained pilot will, the protocol to follow was fairly routine. The plane was never in any real danger. What could have been dangerous was losing the other engine and/or losing flight controls. In fact I will say losing flight controls, meaning losing the ability to control the plane, is the single most dangerous thing that can happen to an airplane. With one engine blown you can still fly to a nearby airport and land safely. With both blown in a twin engine but the controls intact, the plane can be made to fly like a glider and made to land on a flat surface. But if you lose controls (rudder, ailerons, vertical stabilizer etc) you are very likely going to crash. Modern airplanes have a lot of built in redundancies so losing all controls is an unlikely scenario. In this case though the typical passenger inside the plane wouldn't have known - from declaring emergency to landing - it was a very routine operation. Descend rapidly to 10,000 ft where the air is breathable and then follow procedures to bring plane in for landing. Almost all of it done by autopilot.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Just give them a new pair of pants.

[mass55th]

Even though planes are safer in the long run, I’ve never enjoyed flying. Went overseas for the first time in 2006, and went back over the next year. Planes are great if you want to get someplace fast. We never had a car in our family. My Dad worked on the NY Central Railroad, and our family could ride for free. I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was about 28. Never had a new car until I was 40. I took a lot of driving vacations in my younger days as I was into the Civil War, and visited as many battlefields I could get to, and traveled to various places, including Washington to do research at the Archives. My present car I bought new in 2005. Figured it was the last car I’d ever own, and hoped it would last until I died. I don’t take it out of state as I wouldn’t want it to break down and have it worked on by someone I don’t know. My oldest son lives in Troy, NY, less than two hours from me. My youngest son lives in Indiana, about 14-16 hours from me. I only see him about once a year, and I usually rent a car to drive there. I tried driving straight through once, but felt like I’d been put through a wringer, so now I stop overnight on the way out, and on the way back home. My kids, my brother’s widow and their family, plus a few cousins on my father’s side are all the family I have left, so any driving I do nowadays is to visit them occasionally, grocery shopping once or twice a week, and oh, of course doctor visits. Can’t forget them.

[vette6387]

“After having gone through a lawsuit - a process I don’t wish on anyone - I can tell you that the problem is lawyers. Even my own.”

That is so true! I acted “in pro per” to probate my mother’s estate ( about a half a million bucks, so no biggie). The local superior court ( this is CA) had decided not to have a probate judge, but rather a Commissioner (who was just an effing lawyer making a few bucks on the side). This worthless a$$hole was absent half the time. So you take 45 days to get into court on a matter, and the mfer isn’t there, being replaced by an even more worthless attorney who is sitting in, who, instead of reading the particulars on the cases he will hear, he simply gives everyone a continuance forcing you to go through the cycle to get on the calendar again. ALL OF IT stinks to high hell! But I had to say, in the scheme of things, I did better than some of the probates that were being handled by attorneys. Something that should be capable of being handled in a matter of weeks, took more than a year. In that time frame my sister died. As they say, one attorney in a town will starve to death, two will get rich. And what do we do with attorneys who are not worth a $hit, we make them judges, or worse yet, Congressmen and Senators!

[llevrok]

as for both your “nuts” suggestion: remember - we do not want to cause death and suffering amongst those goober intolerant

[jiggyboy]

If an engine blows out and an hour later I’m on the ground picking up my rental car, nah I’m fine, thanks.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Travel voucher? I would settle for a new pair of pants.

[mad_as_he$$]

Thanks. I flew on two American 737’s with those engines yesterday. I asked both Captains about it. The first one was just inspected this week and the second was going to the hanger today for the inspection. It wouldn’t of bothered me to get on an SWA plane but I already had tickets on AA. The high bypass jet engine is a marvel of engineering and production quality. Many have thousands and thousands of hours of run time with an incredible track record of reliability.

[EEGator]

Some people aren’t good at statistics...

[kenmcg]

Nothing will reduce the amount of money SW and their insurers will pay on this one.

[Sasparilla]

...Never heard of any other Airline compensating Passengers after an Inflight Emergency outside of offering them a Travel Voucher and Hotel Stay....

This is a second identical catastrophic engine failure on the port wing of a Southwest Airlines 737. This time it caused one death. I don’t remember anyone getting cash on the first one.

[DoodleBob]

I, too, was amazed at how some "conservatives" turned in to MSNBC fans in this situation. Yes, of course firms that run afoul should pay a price. No self-respecting free-marketer would argue otherwise. But SWA is generally regarded as the best-run airline in America. You don't read about their employees berating passengers, etc.

In this case - which was truly tragic - SWA do the right thing and go above and beyond WITHOUT GOVERNMENT THREATS, which is what free-marketers argue is the BEST approach.

I applaud SWA and would gladly fly them any day over that NRA-hating Delta.

[cyclotic]

Well said Vette.

I fully agree with you. I for one will continue to happily fly Southwest, beginning Tuesday.

I fly them rather often for work and haven’t had a bad experience.

The industry has devolved to making flight travel not the perfect customer experience. It is what it is, but they aren’t out to destroy you.

[mewzilla]

...there’s no place I need to get to that I can’t get to in a car.

Oftentimes, at least in my case, quicker, cheaper, and far more comfortably.

[Mom MD]

Flew SWA yesterday and will continue to do so routinely. They are the best of the bunch as far as customer service goes.

[Fightin Whitey]

Oftentimes, at least in my case, quicker, cheaper, and far more comfortably

Also, if one so chooses, adequately armed.

[Thibodeaux]

Generally, I no longer fly either. I’ve done my time.

[prov1813man]

I agree. Best airline in the business. Pretty much if SWA doesnt fly there we either drive or dont go at all. 57 years, probably millions of passengers, one fatality. I will take those odds any day. Well done SWA.