Jun 28, 2007 5:30 am US/Eastern
Passenger Records 4 Hour JFK Airport Nightmare
Man Confronts Pilot After Grounded Plane Has No Air Conditioning, Passengers Fall Ill
by Tamsen Fadal
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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David Ollila used this miniature camera to film his four-hour nightmare aboard Comair Flight 5637 at JFK Airport.
CBS
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As passengers on board Comair Flight 5637, a 50-seat regional jet, began feeling ill after being grounded on the tarmac for over four hours last Thursday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport, David Ollila grew increasingly frustrated with the fac
AP
As passengers on board Comair Flight 5637, a 50-seat regional jet, began feeling ill after being grounded on the tarmac for over four hours last Thursday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport, David Ollila grew increasingly frustrated with the fact that nobody seemed to do anything to help the situation.
That's when he decided to take matters into his own hands and uncover himself what was really going on.
Ollila, who resides in Michigan, runs a company there called V.I.O. Inc. which manufactures tiny video cameras that athletes use to capture their adventures. He happened to have one of those cameras on him that day, and he decided to use it capture the nightmare that was far from any kind of adventure.
"When we got on the plane we learned there was going to be no air conditioning and it would be uncomfortable, but we would be underway shortly," Ollila told CBS 2 HD.
But the flight, which was originally destined for Detroit, never got underway, and "shortly" turned into hour upon hour. In Ollila's video captures, one passenger is shown fanning her infant baby for hours. Another sequence shows a young passenger falling ill.
"A couple of rows back a young pre-teen or teenage boy had been vomiting and was getting faint," Ollila said.
That's when Ollila went to the pilot concerned because of the infant and sick teen. Armed with his camera in plain view, he was determined to find answers. "It was a serious situation and something had to be done to get the people out of that environment," he said.
In the video, Ollila approaches the pilot. "Who is in charge of my health right now?" Ollila is heard asking.
"Everybody is," the pilot responds. Ollila then tells the pilot, "Everybody is? Then I need a list of everybody!"
Later, Ollila describes the scene on the plane to the pilot. "There is an infant on this plane. ... This is an unsafe environment. ... At some point protocol is putting people at risk," he said.
During that interaction, the pilot kept telling Ollila that, "I am trying."
The pilot eventually seems to sympathize with Ollila. "I can't let you guys just go," he said.
"But you need to communicate the severity of the situation," Ollila replied.
"At that point the pilot said, 'Sir if you keep recording and asking questions I am going to have to call the police,' and I replied, 'I think that's a really good idea,'" Ollila said.
And with that, Ollila said NYPD officers eventually boarded the plane. "They assessed what was happening and made a very quick decision and people were taken off of the plane," he said.
Ollila was arrested and later released, and no charges were filed.
Still, he says the situation isn't over yet. "The powers that be need to take a hard look at the way the industry is run and its up to them to access that," he said.
For more information on what your rights as a passenger are once you board a plane,
click here.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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