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ANA reprimanded after aircraft prepares for take-off with passenger still standing

34 Comments

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has reprimanded All Nippon Airways (ANA) after one of its aircraft prepared to take off even though one passenger was still standing because there was no seat for him.

According to reports by ANA, the incident occurred on Sept 30 at Fukuoka Airport on Flight 256, a Boeing 777 designed to seat 405 passengers, Fuji TV reported. Two passengers -- a father and his son — checked in and boarded the Haneda-bound flight after the son downloaded his father's electronic boarding pass to his smartphone by mistake, ANA said. As a result, they were issued the same boarding pass, but still managed to get onboard despite the automatic reader issuing an error alert at the boarding gate.

Because only one of the two passengers was formally checked into the boarding system, a wait-listed passenger was then allocated a “vacant” seat and invited to board the aircraft. When the father and son entered the cabin, the wait-listed passenger had already occupied one of their purchased seats. It was only after the aircraft started to taxi along the runway that a cabin attendant noticed a man standing in the aisle.

The aircraft returned to the terminal, disembarked the father and son, and resumed its scheduled flight after an approximately 50-minute delay.

On Monday, the ministry issued a serious warning to ANA and advised a review of the verification procedures at both the security checkpoint and boarding gate.

© Japan Today

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34 Comments
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As they are walking down the aisle and making sure every little thing is in perfect order, how do you not notice a grown adult standing there until the plane starts getting taxied out? Also why didn't the father say something like why am I standing here?

24 ( +24 / -0 )

I hope the father and son get due compensation and a HUGE apology for getting chucked off the plane they had valid tickets for. It wasn't their fault the computer system had a bug in it, or that the check-in/boarding/flight staff didn't spot it.

I have to admit, this new-fangled book-on-the-Internet-fly-ticketless-it's-all-in-the-barcode system does make me jittery, for all its convenience. I find myself printing our my confirmation and checking it constantly.

14 ( +15 / -1 )

they were issued the same boarding pass, but still managed to get onboard despite the automatic reader issuing an error alert at the boarding gate.

They explained this on the telly this morning. The son boarded first using his father's barcode thingy on his phone, no problem. Then the father boarded using the same barcode (unknowingly) and the automatic reader gave the error alert. The father had all his stuff in order, the name checked and everything, so the member of staff at the boarding gate assumed the error was due to the father inadvertently touching the screen twice (it apparently happens a lot, people dither), and let him through.

12 ( +12 / -0 )

Why did the father and son get kicked off? The waitlisted person should have been kicked off due to a ANA's crappy computer system.

11 ( +16 / -5 )

shockingly amateur and unprofessional.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

OK, I can see the scanning thing, but how on earth the inflight staff didn't notice a man standing there until the plane was about to take off

And why on earth didn't this man point out to staff the he and his SON had the same seat on their boarding passes, SPEAK UP MAN!!!

8 ( +9 / -1 )

a father and his son — checked in and boarded the Haneda-bound flight after the son downloaded his father’s electronic boarding pass to his smartphone by mistake

Mistake? Right, blame the son for a glitch in the system that allowed him access in the first place.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

.....despite the automatic reader issuing an error alert at the boarding gate.

Someone needs well and truly roasting for ignoring that alert.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

It wasn't the son's fault that the boarding pass was allowed to be downloaded twice. ANA need to get better IT software and security.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Kicked off the flight due to ANA's failure! I'd be fuming!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Thank you cleo for the explanation.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I guarantee the ticket gate people just quickly let them go through despite the automatic reader issuing an error because ANA has pushed its staff to hurry up in the wake of the various other glitches it and airports in Japan have suffered of late. It was a failure of the airline system from the very first step, and amazing that they allowed it to get as far as it did. Stern warning is not enough, and I sure hope the boy and his father were comped the flight or bumped up later -- not their fault this happened.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

I've been on Air China flights where passengers were still wandering around the cabin as the plane taxied for take off; perhaps the crew thought he was Chinese and would sit down eventually. Still, the guy is a bit daft for not speaking up.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Airlines routinely overbook. On the rare occasion when ALL passengers show up for a full flight, someone WILL get bumped, through no fault of their own.

I always volunteer to be bumped when I can afford the delay. I've gotten free tickets for being inconvenienced multiple times.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

uh, yeah thats real likely, gaijindesu.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Mistakes don't just happen, the FA's and the gate operator are supposed to check the doors before, during and after locking.

The doors on a 777 are some 30 feet off the ground, if someone falls out of one without the slide active, or if someone gets caught in the door as it is closing, they're likely to be seriously injured or even die.

The cabin crew is supposed to give the flight deck a notification that the cabin is secure and ready for taxiing before the aircraft even pushes back from the gate. This is procedural - it's not optional and there should not be mistakes. Even one mistake like this incident means a LOT of mistakes chain-linked to create one big screw up.

Get your stuff together guys.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

This is why you have boarding. Sounds like they skipped a step!

1 ( +3 / -2 )

uh, yeah thats real likely, gaijindesu.

Granted it's a different airline, but yes, I got bumped from a flight before, they put me on the next flight and gave me a voucher for a free flight anywhere they fly.

I successfully redeemed that voucher for a flight that cost three times what that original flight cost me.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

m6bob: "They could have got him on the 'jump seat' in the cockpit quickly."

Not post 9-11 they couldn't! Think of the hot water THAT would have landed them in!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

This is a domestic flight. It is a "cattle flight" with hundreds of passengers entering the plane in a short period.

The In-flight Supervisor should be punished. Cabin is managed by him or her. This has violated ICAO regulations.

Cabin-crews are seated the passengers for good reason...to see who is standing. And they have the phones that are linked to the cockpit and In-Flight supervisor.

A lot of problems...what happened to the Passenger Manifest? The plane had to have a major delay as the luggage had to be off-loaded. The plane occupied a gate probably reserved for another flight.

ANA should be fined.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I agree with GW. The passengers in question should have noticed this and notified the cabin crew as soon as they reached the seats. Standing there dumbfounded will only have made the problem worse. It can be hard for the crew to notice because we will all have seen people fuss about with bags or coats in lockers and not sit down until the last moment.

Maybe the double press error can be avoided by setting a ten (?) second delay between accepting boarding passes. Two presses of the same boarding pass ten seconds apart can be assumed to be two different people operating the machine with the same number, not the same person pressing a single boarding pass twice by mistake.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I hate to say this... but Japan seems to be losing that fine shape edge... The care, watchfulness, diligence and the eye for details when the Japanese goes about their daily tasks...seems to be less so nowadays...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Prevent further accidents

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Usually before takeoff the cabin crew walk up and down the aisles to make sure everyone has their seatbelt on. Obviously poorly trained staff unsuited to this job. I'll remember not to fly ANA.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Obviously ANA should take a good look at its staff hiring and training procedures.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I imagine there would've been some serious tantrums, assaults and threats if this had have been in China. Handled civilly like only Japan can.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Kicked off the flight due to ANA's failure! I'd be fuming

I don't know if they were involuntarily removed, or perhaps ANA offered to put them in business class on the next flight shortly after, plus two tickets to anywhere in the world ANA flies, and they happily take up the offer?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

They could have got him on the 'jump seat' in the cockpit quickly.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Come on, mistakes happen. All the electronic gizmos can not prevent human error. Give the airline a break. Like others pointed out, the passenger himself must have realized there was no seat for him and did not say anything to the cabin attendants. Or maybe he thought he was on a Tokyo subway line with all unreserved seats?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

How many people died in this tragedy?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

I was once "the last man standing" on a flight. So they put me in the jump seat in the cockpit - a fun and fascinating experience.

This was before 9/11, so now it's a no no. So thanks, Jihadis, for once again making our lives so inconvenient and miserable.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

I don't understand why the fuss about it. There were 405 people onboard, very easy to think that the father was still standing accomodating his carry-on in the upper cabin - I have seen a lot, when the plane is taxing, people just disobey orders to stay sit until further notice to accomodate carry-ons. Also, the plane didn't take off, it returned to the terminal. These penalties and fines just make tickets more and more expensive.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

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