Jetstar 37 Diverting to ASP

[Michael Dawson]

Hi All,

Jetstar 37 SYD-DPS VH-EBJ on MEL CTR at present diverting to Alice Springs with Medical Diversion due to elderly patient that has taken turn for the worst. Lucky there is a doctor onboard attending to his needs.

Cheers

Michael

[Stuart Trevena]

Hi All,

I don't want to be unkind or unset anyone, but there seems to be too many medical emergency diversions happening.

Each diversion has to cost alot of $$$ and time to the airlines and the other passengers, who can miss connecting flights and are forced to overnight in motels.

If you have major medical condition, eg had a stroke or heart attack or similar in the past, you should be forced to have a medical certificate to clear you for flying supplied to the airlines before you fly.

Then it is up to the airlines to accept you as a passenger.

If you fail to supply a medical certificate, the airlines should be able to recover part or all costs associated with the diversion through court action.

Each year medical emergency diversions must cost the airlines many millions of $$$, which is taken from their bottom line.

I am not having a go at passengers who have a sudden medical problem, but those who have existing issues, which are known to the passenger, but who flys anyway.

Stuart

[Nigel C]

When you think of the numbers of people who fly each day compared to the number of medicals, it really is a very small number of flights affected. I'm sure the airlines have insurance to cover their costs although I agree it would suck to be a passenger with a tight schedule

[David C]

Well said Mr Nigel C .. The number of medically forced diversions is very small indeed . I have been on a flight that was diverted due to a medical emergency , and the feeling onboard was more of one of concern for the passengers welfare than individual inconvenience . I put it to you Mr Trevena , if you were onboard a diverted flight due to a medical emergency , would you be more concerned for the affected passengers welfare ,or the fact that you may be delayed in your plans ?.. All you seem concerned about is the bottom line $$ here , probably not a good priority in these cases ..

Dave C

[Owen H]

David C - Stuart actually raises a very important point. Passengers should not be boarding aircraft if they are medically unfit to do so. He is clearly not talking about unpredictable medical emergencies, but those that should have been reasonably forseeable.

As an example: On a particular flight, a passenger collapsed and had difficulty breathing. The crew gave first aid, and a doctor was sought, and on the advise of that doctor (who was able to get a bit of medical history once the passenger started to improve) the flight was able to continue to its destination. If that doctor had not been on board, the crew would have had no choice but to divert the aircraft based on the cabin crew reports. So much so that the diversion routing had already been loaded.

It was subsequently discovered that this passenger had a medical condition which required supplemental oxygen on the ground! Thats right, on the ground (let alone at 7000ft), the passenger required oxygen. However, the passenger (and their family) failed to notify the airline, get medical clearance, or to arrange for oxygen to be available on the flight.

Now, and this I believe is what Stuart is getting at - why should the passenger not be held accountable for what is nothing short of irresponsible behaviour? Had the aircraft diverted it would have been for completely avoidable reasons, and would have cost a small fortune.

This doesn't for a second mean that, at the time, you are concerned for anything other than the passengers well-being. And 99% of the passengers are similarly ok with the diversion because of the needs of the passenger. But what would those passengers think if they knew that it was entirely avoidable except for the actions of the passenger and/or their family?

Stuart - you ARE required to complete such a form in many circumstances.

Qantas' one is http://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/...l/mediform.pdf

All that said, the cost and low likelihood of success would make chasing a passenger for the costs of a diversion impractical.

[Mick F]

Agree, passengers should not be travelling if they have pre-diagnosed medical conditions that could present a problem, IF they have not notified the airline and sought medical clearance beforehand.

But, irrespective of whether it's irresponsible or not, the idea of going after them for diversion costs (probably ten's of thousands), is ludicrous. I have been flying full time now for over 9 years and I could count on one hand, the number of times I've heard flights being diverted due medical emergencies, while I've been out flying. Just goes to show, in the grand scheme of things, it's quite a small number.

Mick

[Guy W]

A lot of passengers with pre-existing conditions would not consider it is a risk for them to travel. Many agents and passengers have asked me to forget about the PEC after finding out that a MEDA form is needed.

Surprisingly, a lot of GPs don't really know the real risk of flying. Many people got knocked back from flying despite their GPs said they have no problem at all. Worse thing is, people tend to believe in their GPs over the expert doctors working for an airline.

[Michael Dawson]

VH-EBJ is returning from ASP according to Flightaware as JST 7991. Did it actually carry onto DPS last night or did the journey end there. If so there is a few people on the flight that have been disrupted.

Cheers

Michael

[Lukas M]

Power issues and a closed terminal meant she was going nowhere!

Pax got to fly back to SYD before going back to Bali! What a trip lol...

EDIT: looks like JQ37 going out twice tonight.

[Ian Nicholls]

Looks like there's more to this one.

VH-EBJ flew ASP-SYD as JQ7991 which is a positioning flight number.

Meanwhile QF 763 VH-OGH positioned SYD-ASP in the morning as QF6117 and returned as QF1350. This would seem to indicate that passengers flew ASP-SYD on the 763.