It seems there are still new ways for airliners to be delayed as Qatar Airways passengers headed to Doha, Qatar, from Birmingham, England, found on Tuesday. The flight was delayed more than four hours as firefighters worked to free the pilot and several cabin crew from a stuck elevator. The delay caused numerous passengers to miss connections to places like New Zealand and Australia.
The flight was supposed to leave at 7:45 a.m. and the crew was in plenty of time for the flight, so they thought. The elevator (it’s unclear if it was at the airport or their hotel) trapped them at about 6 a.m. and it took firefighters until 9:30 a.m. to free them. The plane left about 11:40 a.m. Doha is a popular interim destination for Europeans headed to Asia and the South Pacific, and passengers told local media that almost all onboard had connections to make in Doha.
A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the airline involved. We regret the error.
After reading the headline only, I had a picture of an obese pilot trapped behind the control yoke and wondered what the heck is going on at Emirates 😂
Same!
Me too! Perhaps the word “hotel” should be inserted in the headline. (In the UK it would be a “lift” so no aviation confusion)!
Ditto
Yeah, my first thought was “what was he doing up around the elevator? Is that part of the preflight?” Then the first part of the article had me thinking, “Oh, in the seat with the yoke stuck in the full aft, elevator up position.” Then the part about “…several cabin crew…” really confused me.
I was well into the second paragraph before the phrase “the airport or their hotel…” made me think “Oh, the other kind of elevator.”
Don’t judge me, I’ve only just started my first cup of coffee.
Me too
On top of that, I was imagining an Airbus with sidestick controls. Was the pilot defeated in an arm wrestling match?!
It was Qatar Airways, not Emirates
Yeah, I love the image, but did nobody see “Building” in the headline? Was it missing from the original version, maybe?
Right, David. The word “Building” appears to have been recently added to the title.
If you’ve never been stuck in an elevator for an extended time, count your blessings. No matter how fresh you are, it won’t be long before you’ll wonder why they don’t come with emergency relief tubes …
We’re they out walking on the empennage?
🤣
Was it perhaps Qatar Airways (QR36) and not Emirates?
Good observation. Emirates doesn’t fly to Doha from Europe. Either it was Qatar Airways or perhaps the author confused Doha with Dubai.
It was Qatar. Fixing it now.
Having stayed at some British hotels, this story doesn’t surprise me.
Since it happened in the UK, a less-ambiguous headline might have been, “Stuck LIFT Traps Pilot.” But there’d still be some wondering about some odd aerodynamic effect… 🙂
Yup. The UK is never fun.
Been there ; done that; wore the Tee Shirt .🚒
Crew Dispatch : ” notify a ready reserve. ” 🤣
Only on AVweb does the headline “stuck elevator” become click bait
Ok – I’ll admit it – I too pictured an elevator locked into the full up position with the poor pilot unable to move.
Ditto.
OK Russ, ya got me with that headline. A relative was injured when the elevator of the Piper stuck on approach, not funny at all.
I thought it was one of my best and it wasn’t even intentional:)
Add just three words for total clarity: “… in a building.”
My mental image was the plane at 51,000 and unable to get down, till it ran 4 hours of fuel out.
This was a misunderstanding that will only occur on an aviation forum. You got me too.
Guess Qatar Airlines will introduce baggage weight checks at the entrance to lifts now.
No commercial pilot was confused. I know othets this has happened to on layovers, always while on the last ride to check out and go fly.