A Qatar Airways flight from from New York’s JFK International Airport was forced to abandon its take-off after the aircraft applied the brakes of its own accord.
The entire incident was captured on video on board by Zach Honig, editor-in-chief of travel website The Points Guy. Honig was one of a number of invited journalists on the charter flight to celebrate the DOha carrier’s new Airbus 350 service between the Qatari capital and New York.
Writing on his blog, Honig said “… about 18 seconds after we began rolling down JFK’s runway 22R, the aircraft self-aborted, bringing us from more than 100 mph to a loud, screeching halt in roughly 15 seconds. For a plane of this size and weight, stopping that quickly required a lot of force.
“To give you another idea of how abruptly we stopped, as you can see in the picture below, nearly all of the 200+ pillows and blankets landed on the floor, having previously been neatly arranged on each seat in economy.
“Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but some passengers (including myself) were quite shaken.”
Terrified, Honig and another journalist asked to get off the flight, before they were told that the length of the runway caused the widebody aircraft to come to a sudden halt.
“Qatar’s Chief Commercial Officer, the highest ranking executive on the flight, came over to reassure us, explaining that an ‘indicator’ was responsible for the abrupt abort.
“As I understand it, for some reason the A350 decided that our 11,000-foot runway was too short to support the take-off, and the plane applied the brakes at full force — all on its own.
“I was told that we would be taxiing to a different (less glitchy) runway, and would attempt another take-off there. If that failed, we would be allowed to disembark. In other words, we were going to be taking off again whether we wanted to or not,” he said.
Just under two hours later, the flight took off from JFK from a different runway and completed its journey to Doha.
ArabianBusiness.com
Lufthansa becomes A320NEO launch customer
According to Aviation Week Network (AWN). Airbus will swap the deliveries of its A320neo aircraft from launch customer Qatar Airways to Lufthansa, thus the German carrier becoming the first airline to take delivery of the type.
The industry sources quoted in the AWN report cited that the change was due to operational constraints in place for the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine, pending some hardware and software changes due to be implemented “within a matter of weeks.” The possibility of “a slight delay” due to engine issues began to circulate back in June 2015 as reported by Jon Ostrower and The Wall Street Journal.
Just in a press conference held today in New York, Qatar Airways GCEO Mr. Akbar Al Baker remained confident that he expects a “Christmas miracle” and “that Airbus will deliver the A320neo before the end of the year” but added that if there are delays Pratt & Whitney would be on the hook. Nevertheless, the AWN report indicates that Qatar was reluctant to take delivery of the A320neo under such operational limitations “and will not do so until the restrictions are lifted.”
An Airbus spokesperson confirmed to AirwaysNews that “we are in talks with our customers about the first deliveries of their aircraft though it is their privilege to announce the delivery date. We do confirm our plan to start the neo delivery stream this year.”
During the Dubai Air Show in November 2011, Qatar Airways placed orders (firm and options) for 80 of Airbus’ new A320neos. Interestingly, Qatar Airways was the first airline in the world to operate every family of Airbus’ modern airliner portfolio, comprising the A320, A330, A340, A350 and A380. These delays aren’t without precedent. The carrier was the launch customer of the Airbus A350 XWB one year ago also after a week-long delay upon request of Mr. Al Baker due to cabin finishing issues.
And during his association with Cargolux Airlines, Mr. Al Baker also opted to postpone the delivery of the first Boeing 747-8 Freighter days before the expected handover. The airline attributed the decision to “unresolved contractual issues” with Boeing.
The report states that Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr confirmed that the airline and Airbus are negotiating the delivery scheduled to be on December 22. However, given the regulatory issues to clear and a financial compensation requested by Lufthansa, these negotiations might not get to fruition.
If Lufthansa and Airbus agree on the delivery of the A320neo, the carrier would start serving the Frankfurt – Hamburg route on January 6, and the A320neo delivery order would place Qatar Airways as the second A320neo operator, followed by Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo.
At this point, however nothing is cast in stone or aluminum.
Airways News
Qatar Airways forces Gay British Paralympian to crawl off the plane!!
Less than one month after a gay disabled activist was forced to crawl off a United Airlines flight in Washington, D.C., a lesbian British Paralympian has come forward with a strikingly similar experience.
Speaking to the BBC’s Radio 4, Claire Harvey says that she was “manhandled” by Qatar Airways flight crew who demanded she disembark from her October 30 flight after all other passengers had left the plane, even though flight attendants had failed to bring Harvey the aisle-sized wheelchair that would make it easy for her to reach the front of the plane, where her personal wheelchair was waiting.
“He started to manhandle me and said I had to get to the front of the plane, bearing in mind I was 49 rows back,” Harvey said of the flight attendant’s treatment of her. “I was dragging myself to the front of the plane with him behind me pushing me to go faster.”
Prior to boarding, Harvey told the BBC that she overheard flight crew discussing how to get “the wheelchair” on board — later realizing the crew was referring to her. During the flight, she was reportedly seated in an aisle seat, rather than by the window, meaning other passengers in her row had to “clamber over her to move about the cabin,” according to the BBC. Harvey also contends that her personal wheelchair’s frame was bent, and the brakes damaged, during the course of the flight.
The BBC notes that Qatar Airways, which claims to be investigating the incident, is also the official host airline for the International Paralympic Committee’s World Athletic Championships in Doha, Qatar, from where Harvey was returning after competing in the discus and javelin. The airline issued a statement saying it was proud to be a host for the championships, and stating that all cabin are “properly trained to provide appropriate assistance to passengers with disabilities,” according to the BBC.
Harvey’s experience is remarkably similar to that of D’Arcee Charington Neal, a gay black man and human rights activist with cerebral palsy who was forced to crawl off a United Airlines flight landing in Washington, D.C. last month. When Neal’s story made international headlines, disability advocates noted that his experience was a common one for disabled people attempting to travel. In an op-ed for The Advocate this month, Neal reflected on the supposed celebration of diversity within the LGBT community, lamenting that actually diverse members of the community are often excluded from events, social activities, and general activism.
Advocate