Most of your crew are invisible – don’t forget about them.

FYI – This is a long post so grab yourself a coffee and a muffin and put your feet up.

I read an article the other day about a Flight Attendant suffering broken back after a hard landing in the States. My first thought was to wonder how the Tech crew reacted to that and what care or concern they extended to the poor lady.

The reason I thought this was because of an awful incident my partner had when she was a Flight Attendant back in the day. Here’s an excerpt from her book.

Melissa…. way back, once upon a time…. probably when planes were steam driven…

I had my first duty for the year, and it was a double banger across the Tasman and landing back into Christchurch on a B767.

All eight crew had watched the weather report the night before as any international flight descending into Christchurch across the Alps was prone to bumps and often moderate turbulence.

The outward flight progressed as normal and the turnaround in Sydney was uneventful. We had a landing time into Christchurch of 1510, and we expected to start descending at 1445 as normal.

We were completing the service about 1420 when thrust was reduced, and descent began. We looked at each other quizzically as we were going down about 25 minutes early. We went down to the galley and had a team discussion on how to deal with this change to plans. The purser rang the flight deck, and they confirmed the landing time to still be at 1510.

We all got a little antsy knowing that gale force nor’westerly winds were forecast over the mountains and we were expected strong turbulence on the later stages of descent. We decided to collect in the headsets and rubbish from the passengers early.

The galley crew member began to close up the galley and secure it for landing. The galley can be a dangerous place in turbulence if the 20kg standard units weren’t locked into place or the meal and drinks carts that weigh closed to 70kgs weren’t in their correct stowages. An added safety hazard on board this particular leased aircraft (ZK-NBD - ‘nother bloody dog’) was there were no doors on the cart stowages, just big clips to secure the carts in place.

Soon after the headsets had been brought to the rear of the galley, a reasonable chop developed. It didn’t seem terribly bad and the crew either leaned on the galley counters or held the hand holds at each door. The captain came on the P.A to ask passengers to fasten their seatbelts and keep them fastened until we landed. He didn’t expect the turbulence to get any worse or to last too long.

It abated for a while and Pauline and I crammed the headsets into paper rubbish bags to be removed from the aircraft by the cleaners during the turn around. We would normally stow the bags in the aft toilets but on this aircraft the toilets were over-wing. Whilst the turbulence was mild, I suggested we get the bags into the toilets while it was still safe.

All the crew still anticipated some big bounces before we landed. I looked at my watch. It was 1450. I grabbed two big bags of headphones, one in each arm, as did Pauline, and we moved up the aisles to stuff them in the toilet.

As I approached the over-wing area the chop increased suddenly and when Pauline opened the toilet door it slammed loudly against the wall. We both sensed something was about to happen and simultaneously we threw the bags in the toilet and grabbed for a seat.

Neither of us made it.

Passing through 10,000 feet the aircraft dropped from beneath our feet and we were both airborne. We collided with the overhead movie projector, just as the aircraft rose rapidly again and we were thrown down across a row of empty emergency row seats.

My neck and shoulders burned on impact and my vision blurred. Pain sparked and zapped through my brain, but my overriding thought was for the passengers and safety of the aircraft. In my confused state I couldn’t tell what angle we were flying at or how far off the ground we were. I strained to hear the engines, but I could barely hear them above the prolonged screaming and cries of the passengers. I tried to fasten myself into a passenger seat, but my fingers didn’t seem to want to co-operate and I waited for the thrashing to subside. Eventually the aircraft stopped bucking and as I made my way to the rear of the aircraft, I could see injured crew lying on the galley floor. I didn’t get very far before we were plunging again, and I strapped myself into another passenger seat.

The turbulence was the severest I had ever experienced, and it seemed to thrash us for a small eternity. Eventually it subsided. I spoke with people around me to let them know everything was ok and touched one lady on the arm who seemed quite apoplectic. She came to when she saw me and seemed to recover quickly.

The cabin was a mess. Lockers had popped open and cabin baggage, coats and duty free were scattered everywhere. Parts of the cabin lining had fallen down or come loose, and you could see the insulating material and screeds of wiring running along the fuselage. Passengers were quiet and pale but thankfully none had been hurt. Sadly, the crew were not so fortunate.

The cabin floor looked liked this one - Photo credit: Alan Cross

There was no P.A from the flight deck, in fact they remained silent for the rest of the descent. The passengers were bewildered, and the crew were injured.

The galley looked as though a massacre had taken place. There was blood splashed everywhere and the galley hostie, Macy, was unconscious and badly hurt. Another crew member nursed an avulsed finger caused when her ring caught against a solid object as she flew through the air. She was ashen and was trying to stop the flow of blood from her mauled hand, but the blood continued to trickle towards her elbow from under the wads of paper napkins wrapped around her hand.

The purser and another hostie were sitting on crew seats looking dazed and very disorientated with bloody wounds. We were in no fit state to land. Five of the crew including myself, were injured and incapacitated in some way. We didn’t have enough crew to land the plane safely. Only three crew were fit enough to cover six exits.

The purser slowly got to her feet. Her jacket was drenched in Macy’s blood. She had cradled and held tight to Macy to protect her unconscious body from flying around as the plane bucked and thrashed in its turbulent throes. She appraised the situation and called the flight deck asking the captain to extend his downwind leg to give her more time to prepare the cabin.

Much to our surprise, he refused as he wanted an on time landing. He had a BBQ party to attend. She decided to go forward to the flight deck and talk to him face to face to make it clear to him the situation she had on her hands.

Her pleas were in vain. Even with blood staining a whole quarter of her jacket, he refused to delay landing. She asked for an ambulance for Macy, but he said it wasn’t necessary. She also asked for ground help to help with disembarkation and to aid the injured crew but again he inexplicably denied her request. When she came down the back and told us, we were incredulous.

The list of injuries was long and varied depending on where we had been in the aircraft at the time. For those in the galley, Macy had the most obvious injuries. She had facial fractures and a shattered knee as well as concussion. Karen had all the skin on her pinky finger torn off by her ring and the purser and another hostie had various injuries. Pauline and I had very similar injuries. We both had concussion and whiplash as well as torn muscles in our necks and shoulders.

I really wasn’t a very effective crew member as I kept forgetting the instructions that the purser gave me, and I wandered around the cabin unfocused and struggling to work out how high we were flying. This was almost a sixth sense for crew. We always knew where we were in relation to the ground but on this day even if I looked out the window, I couldn’t determine how high we were.

I was led to my seat by an able crew member, for landing and I needed help with how to fasten the seatbelt, something I had done up to six times a day for the last three years. I was quite sleepy but the pain in my shoulders and neck was enough to keep me awake, and I needed to hold my head in my hands, it was just too heavy to hold up with my damaged neck. Pauline joined me very soon after and we sat miserably at the over-wing area thankfully hidden from the passenger’s curious gaze by a bulkhead.

We landed on time, as the captain desired, but with only one functional crew member at the front, middle and rear of the aircraft, instead of the eight crew normally positioned in those areas. the entire aircraft cabin was a scene of woe, fear, pain and confusion. The captain was entirely absent - both in words and care.

There was no help for any of us until the traffic staff saw the colour of the Purser’s jacket. She immediately radioed for help and the required wheelchair and Ambulance for Macy.

The passengers filed off the plane very quietly, they had been frightened, no explanation had been forthcoming from the flight deck, and they knew their crew had been injured. they had to pick their way around pieces of the ceiling and search around the floor for their belongings.

When engineers saw the state of the cabins with fallen ceiling panels they were astounded. The captain hadn’t advised them before landing. The plane had to be taken out of service less than hour before its next scheduled flight for a complete check over.

The tech crew sneaked off with the passengers. The captain was a disgrace as far as we were concerned. He didn’t even come and check on his crew after the flight. He was nothing but a coward and I still feel very strongly about him.

He and his co-pilot went home and relaxed, but five of us were taken to hospital in taxis and spent an embarrassing time in A & E waiting to be seen by doctors, the public scrutinizing our bloody uniforms and assessing our injuries. We couldn’t get home that night and the entire crew were put up in a Christchurch hotel.

Management came to look after us and opened a bar tab for us, but we concussed types had been ordered not to drink by the doctor. I had been fitted with a neck brace, something that would be a constant companion for nearly six months. An x-ray showed a crack in one of my cervical vertebrae in my neck. Just one centimetre one way or the other in my fall and my neck would have been broken. The potential frightened me.

We flew home in our blood stained and torn uniforms the next day, grateful for the loan of greatcoats from the Christchurch staff to hide our battle weary state. My head throbbed and I could turn my head neither to the left nor the right. I couldn’t look down or tip my head back. If I raised my arms at all the pain across my shoulders was hot and virulent.

Macy returned to work three months later but alas, Pauline and I were unable to return to work for nearly six months.

The airline was grateful no passengers had been harmed, as that meant the sorry saga was kept out of the media. This occurred long before the era of social media.

Eventually an internal investigation was launched and at the inquiry the captain attended with his lawyer in tow. He knew he was in big trouble. The company had to threaten him with dismissal just to get him to attend and in front of his injured crew he stated that he believed cabin crew were a waste of his time, he had no responsibility for their safety and he did not regret his lack of action in helping us.

Our jaws dropped, as he had just added insult to injury. His superiors were equally stunned.

The only outcome that I knew of was that he was overlooked for promotion for a time, but on his wage that was no hardship. For three of us, we still had months off work, physiotherapy and painkillers ahead of us and living off 80% of our basic salary of NZ$25,000. Life seemed quite hard for a time.

Even though this happened a long time ago (I believe dinosaurs still walked the earth), the pilots’ behaviour toward their crew was heinous. I knew the captain involved as he worked out of my base, and I wasn’t surprised by his actions. There are just some bad eggs out there.

In the years following this event, airlines began a series of tech crew training sessions in Crew Resource Management. It was about Human Factors. Essentially telling the old Captains – who thankfully are all gone now – that they weren’t the only ones on the aircraft and that their co pilots and cabin crew were just as important as they were. It was a fairly obvious comment to most of us, but some blatantly disagreed. This particular captain fell under the latter group. In this event, his first officer had wanted to help the crew, but he had been overridden by his captain and with the culture of the day, it was inconceivable to disobey the captain.

The captain is the head of his or her crew. The crew are not just those at the pointy end, but also the cabin crew who manage and care for the passengers, out of sight and physically isolated from where the tech crew do their job. But they are just as important for the safety and smooth operation of the flight as the tech crew are.

My favourite sectors were those completed on the domestic network. The entire crew knew each other relatively well and we had some great and hilarious overnights with the smaller crew numbers. Sometimes, in my early days, it was just me, the co, and just a single flight attendant shuttling around New Zealand on the smaller prop aircraft. We had a ball with each other.

Even on the B777, at outstations, we had large turnouts of crew for drinks and dinner and there were some great stories told on the crew transport between the airport and our accommodation.

Once you’ve achieved your first job as a commercial pilot on flights with flight attendants, always keep them in your thoughts and make sure you get to know them. You need them as much as they need you.
You’re part a team – make it a great team.

I hope you enjoyed your coffee.

Now get back to work 😉