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Morning News

Passengers and Attendants Refuse to Fly on Plane After Pilot Questions Safety

Aired June 12, 2000 - 10:20 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Two flight attendants and at least four passengers refused to fly on an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle, Washington to San Diego yesterday. And the reason: a newspaper report quoting an Alaska Airlines pilot who expressed concerns about the safety of the exact plane they were about to get on board.

We get more now from reporter Chris Legeros (ph) of our CNN affiliate KIRO.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LEGEROS, KIRO REPORTER (voice-over): The crowd on the Alaska concourse was tired, grumpy, frustrated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The thing is, is they're not even saying anything to us. They're not even apologizing. They're not even offering anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every 15 or 20 minutes they come on and they make another announcement and they don't tell us anything.

LEGEROS: This flight to San Diego was more than two hours late leaving the gate and passengers were complaining they didn't know why.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When an airline tells me six different stories in two hours, they're hiding something as far as I'm concerned.

LEGEROS: Then a maintenance person told the passenger the reason for the wait.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This happens to be the exact same airplane that was written up in the local paper.

LEGEROS: In the "Seattle Times," a veteran pilot questioned the maintenance practices of Alaska Airlines in general and on this plane in particular, number 934, at one point saying this airplane may be a ticking time bomb.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to get on the plane, I just don't -- I don't feel good about it.

LEGEROS: It turns out the two flight attendants didn't feel comfortable flying onboard 934 either, even though Alaska mechanics checked it out and found it to be completely airworthy, squeaky clean, they called it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Myself and my party have rebooked on Delta Airlines and we're just choosing to eat the fare and not fly.

LEGEROS: Before leaving the gate, the captain made an announcement explaining that yes, indeed, this was the plane in the newspaper, and reassuring passengers that he was confident it was safe. But Audrey and John West decided not to take any chances.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we just didn't feel comfortable and they gave us the option to get off. So we decided to get off.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And the plane eventually did arrive in San Diego without incident. Once again that story from our affiliate KIRO.

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