Inedit - Passengers forced to stand on Tatarstan Airlines flight

Titlu: Passengers forced to stand on Tatarstan Airlines flight
Sursa: news.com.au
Autor: Lee Taylor
Data: 30.09.2010

Citat :

SIX passengers on-board a flight from Turkey to Russia were allegedly forced to stand because there were not enough seats.

The adult travellers are said to have stood for the entire five-hour flight, except for when the plane hit turbulence, forcing the passengers to sit in the aisle without seatbelts.

The passengers were subjected to ‘standing room only’ after the Tatarstan Airlines flight from Antalya to Ekaterinburg was replaced by another aircraft with fewer seats just before take-off.

Standing passengers did not have oxygen masks or life vests on the overcrowded jet, said reports in Moscow.

“The adults had no choice but to fly standing for five hours,” one passenger told the UK's Daily Mail.

“When the plane flew through turbulence, they went from standing to sitting in the aisle where naturally they had no safety belts.”

Passengers said they were told by airline crew to put children on their lap - but the children were too big.

The incident is believed to have occurred on September 24 and was revealed by angry passengers who have demanded $4,900 each in compensation. But they were only offered $212 by Anex-Tour, which booked many passengers on the flight.

An Anex-Tour spokesperson defended the airline, saying the passengers could have waited for a later flight.

“People had a choice to fly on that plane standing up, or wait seven hours for another plane,” Evgenia Fedorova said.

“All the tourists decided to fly back despite uncomfortable conditions.”

Tatarstan Airlines did not deny the incident occurred and a spokesperson said the company will not share any details until everything is clarified.

“Our own investigation of this accident is about to begin,” they said.

Aviation regulators are said to be probing the incident.

Visul celor de la Ryanair s'a implinit, chiar daca dintr'o totala nebunie. Merita dati in judecata.