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AirTran ‘hero' wasn't on plane, airline says
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 12/04/2009 | Alexis Stevens

Posted on 12/04/2009 6:04:17 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom

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To: ROTB
About 15 years ago I was flying out of Metro Detroit on Continental airlines with a connection (I forgot where the connection city was), anyway due to delays at Metro, I missed my connection to Phila. Continental then cancelled 2 flights to Phila. and left a lot of us stranded. One of the business men found an airline that would accept our Continental ticket and off we went after 2 hours of waiting. When my sister in law called Continental to find out where I was, they didn't know. She got worried but no one knew where I was. I finally landed in Philidephia....The city I was stranded in was the Continental hub. When the airlines screw up no one know where you are......

I swore I would never use Continental again, I don't even know if they are still in business......

21 posted on 12/04/2009 6:40:35 PM PST by goat granny
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To: goat granny
I swore I would never use Continental again, I don't even know if they are still in business......

Continental is my company's preferred carrier, both foreign and domestic. And from personal experience, I can tell you that they are at the top of the list of US carriers. A modern fleet and decent service that far exceed any other in the US.

Want to be punished? Try US Airways, United and American.

22 posted on 12/04/2009 6:43:33 PM PST by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

This did not sound false-—no it sounded like climategate.


23 posted on 12/04/2009 6:48:12 PM PST by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: buccaneer81
The reason I was ticked off was that to drive from Detroit to Philadelphia is a 9-10 hour trip and that flight took 11 hours, starting with the delay at Metro...I was going to take care of my brother that had just gotten out of the hospital after having a crainiotomy (sp) for a benign brain tumor....But Continental at the time was just starting up its hub in whatever that god forsaken city was...I am sure that was probably the cause of all the problems. (what city is their hub in now)
24 posted on 12/04/2009 7:00:13 PM PST by goat granny
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To: buccaneer81

if he saved all those people, who are we to question whether or not he was on the plane???


25 posted on 12/04/2009 7:03:31 PM PST by terycarl (lurking, but interested and informed)
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To: goat granny

So - we’re still not sure ?


26 posted on 12/04/2009 7:04:40 PM PST by maine yankee
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To: Presbyterian Reporter

A plane load of people saw this and we have two witnesses talking, one perhaps never there?
And everybody else has been hushed up?
Hard to believe, especially since a plane load of people is usually a very diverse group.


27 posted on 12/04/2009 7:06:12 PM PST by nascarnation
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To: buccaneer81
AirTran and TSA officials allowed the man, and 12 others traveling with him,

The was "supposedly" speaking Spanish. But no one offered to serve as interpreter. You have a plane full of people yet no one spoke Spanish? You cannot get on a plane, or bus or eat in a restaurant without someone being there who can't speak Spanish. You run down a crowded street anywhere in the USA and randomly hit a dozen people on the head with a bet, most will go, "Ow! That hurt!" At least a couple will go, "Aye! Mi dolio!" I speak Spanish and have interjected myself as an interpreter countless times.

28 posted on 12/04/2009 7:18:06 PM PST by Bad Jack Bauer (Fat and Bald? I was BORN fat and bald, thank you very much!)
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To: CaptRon

The red zone is for loading and unloading of passengers only.


29 posted on 12/04/2009 7:23:28 PM PST by willyd (Reducing Taxes Reduces our Carbon Footprint)
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To: goat granny

That’s a good point. I was about to conclude we’d been had—but your observation is valid. I’ve had a similar situation. Cxld flight, eager to get out of there. Next flight out on the same airline was 3 hours later, but it was supposedly filled, so booked standby on that flight, and a guaranteed seat for the last flight of the night as backup. Also booked standby for an earlier flight on another airline, which came through. I have no idea what the records showed as to which plane I was on.

There’s been more than one time I was standing at the gate with my boarding pass and they didn’t have me in the system at all. No problem. So would I have been on their official manifest or not?


30 posted on 12/04/2009 7:27:12 PM PST by Eroteme
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To: Bad Jack Bauer
The was "supposedly" speaking Spanish.

Everything you said about speaking Spanish makes sense, which also makes it hard to believe that a lady listening behind him could mistake any sort of Arabic language for Spanish. They aren't even remotely similar in sound. So now this lady is also part of the conspiracy?

31 posted on 12/04/2009 7:31:14 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

Why wouldn’t AirTran say that from the beginning? Their first statement was that Petruna’s account conflicted on several points with the crew’s accounts. Why bother to issue a statement like that at all if they knew he wasn’t on the flight?


32 posted on 12/04/2009 7:32:33 PM PST by Eroteme
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To: Oshkalaboomboom
I don't pretend to know what happened or what Petruna's deal is. What I DO know is:

... According to AirTran, shortly after 4:40 p.m. on Nov. 17, Flight 297 bound for Houston taxied toward the runway of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. But before the Boeing 717 made it to the runway, the pilot made the decision to return the plane to the gate. A flight attendant asked a male passenger twice to put away a cell phone or camera. At the gate, the passenger -- who didn't speak English -- and a companion were asked to leave the plane, which they did without incident, the airline reported. When it was determined the problem was caused by a language barrier, AirTran and TSA officials allowed the man, and 12 others traveling with him to re-board, and the flight left for Houston a little more than two hours later. Later, officials said the entire incident was the result of a miscommunication...

... is major league bullsh*t.

Hello?

The default to "hoax" is dangerous. SOMETHING happened here. What is this "the passenger and a companion were asked to leave the plane ... and TSA officials allowed the man, and 12 others traveling with him to re-board, and the flight left for Houston a little more than two hours later"?? HUH? Then they must have been asked to leave the plane OR requested to leave the plane, too ... yet no mention, it's as if, "Oh, by the way, there's this little additional fact that 12 OTHER passengers were involved, too ..."

FRiends, as with the New York so-called "photo op," I don't pretend to know what this WAS, but I damned well can guess what it wasn't, and it wasn't the minor fracas they're claiming here. There's bullsh*t of major proportion going on, and if you're not worried, YOU SHOULD BE. There is way too much cowering to fear of being made to look foolish in so many FReepers' willingness to brush this off as nothing to worry about. If you end up looking foolish -- if I end up looking foolish -- it was worth the risk, but it AIN'T worth the risk to roll over for a load of horsesh*t like that.

I am dismayed at how many gullible people there are who are so fast to buy this new explanation. Whether or not Petruna was or wasn't a fraud is beside the point now -- and we ALL KNOW that the media has already gone beyond the point of no return in lack of honesty in other matters; why do you all the sudden trust them here when the "official" explanation is so clearly ridiculous?

Airplanes do NOT return to the gate unless it's a last resort.

I don't know what went down here, but it was something a hell of a lot more serious than a couple of Mexicans (or Spanish speaking folks) who didn't understand English.

PLEASE, people, understand when you're being duped because it has gotten to the point where it's DEADLY if you don't.

33 posted on 12/04/2009 7:36:42 PM PST by Finny ("Raise hell. Vote smart." -- Ted Nugent.)
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

bump for later read


34 posted on 12/04/2009 7:38:29 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: Finny

So what about this article where they researched SEVEN people from the flight??? http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/17508


35 posted on 12/04/2009 7:42:06 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: willyd

Where do we load the BS?


36 posted on 12/04/2009 7:45:25 PM PST by CaptRon
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To: Finny

But those 12 weren’t the only ones on the airplane, there were another, what, 60 or 100 or 200 depending on the size.

Why aren’t any of them talking?


37 posted on 12/04/2009 7:53:23 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (Perfection is the enemy of Good.)
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To: Dinah Lord
That was what got me. Never had a replacement crew in less than 2 hours, usually 4 hours.

Also it was convenient that his backup was a large Texas speaking dude.

38 posted on 12/04/2009 7:58:02 PM PST by packrat35 (Ron Paul is a turd!)
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To: Yaelle
Excellent point; thanks for posting the link. I guess NOW we're supposed to believe that this reporter who says he interviewed seven people involved with the flight, including two law enforcement officers, is just lying ... but this new "Everything's okay, the airline says Petruna wasn't even on the manifest" is totally true and we can all relax and go back to being gullible suckers thoroughly believing that we just avoided the same.

Something definitely went down here; my own personal guess is that it was probably a feint, not a test run, but I could very well be wrong and the Muslims really ARE that stupid and arrogant (I hope that's the case, because that means they have a fatal underestimation of Americans). Again, the important thing to be considering here is not so much what DID happen, but what DIDN'T happen, and this new "everything's safe ... there was never anything serious ... is was just a miscommunication ... move along, nothing to see" version is bullsh*t if I ever saw it.

39 posted on 12/04/2009 7:58:06 PM PST by Finny ("Raise hell. Vote smart." -- Ted Nugent.)
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To: goat granny
(what city is their hub in now) Cleveland.
40 posted on 12/04/2009 8:06:16 PM PST by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
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