Airline Denies Pilot Took Vote on Facing Storm
An American Airlines pilot asked passengers during a severe storm to vote on whether to divert the flight to a New York state airport or turn back to Chicago, two passengers said Wednesday, but federal aviation investigators said it was a simple misunderstanding.
American Airlines denied that the pilot of Flight 492 to New York’s La Guardia Airport had let passengers make such a decision last Thursday.
Muriel and Fred Sider, a suburban Northbrook couple aboard the flight, insist that is what happened, but the Federal Aviation Administration investigated and concluded otherwise.
“Nobody did anything wrong,” FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said Wednesday. She said the captain was only asking how many passengers needed ground transportation to La Guardia. Because of the storm, the plane landed at Stewart International Airport near Newburgh, N. Y.
“About an hour into the flight, the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said that La Guardia was definitely closed in, but they could get into Stewart Airport . . . and wanted a vote as to how the passengers felt,” Mrs. Sider said.
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