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Dog dies on United flight after FA forces passenger to put carrier in overhead Login/Join 
Ice age heat wave,
cant complain.
Picture of MikeGLI
posted
Bad run for United Airlines, this won't help. I'd caution the dog lovers not to click link, there are pictures.

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/...in-overhead-bin.html

Tragedy struck on a United flight from Houston to New York City, when a dog in a TSA-compliant pet carrier died after a flight attendant forced its owner to store the animal and its carrier in an overhead bin for the duration of the four-hour Monday flight.

First reported by travel blogger The Points Guy, United has since claimed full responsibility for the “tragic accident.”

According to passenger Maggie Gremminger, she and others heard the black French bulldog barking initially during the flight, and were horrified to learn the animal had passed away later in the trip, she told People.

“A stranger offered to hold her newborn while she sat on the floor, there in the airplane aisle. She was holding her dog and rocking back and forth. Her daughter was also crying,” Gremminger told the publication of the scene following the discovery.

Gremminger told People once the dog was found dead, the flight attendant became "frazzled" and insisted she did not know there was a live animal in the carrier.

“I want to help this woman and her daughter. They lost their dog because of an @united flight attendant. My heart is broken,” Gremminger wrote on Twitter, sharing a photo of the family who allegedly lost their dog.

For their part, United's pet policy reads as follows:
“A pet traveling in cabin must be carried in an approved hard-sided or soft-sided kennel. The kennel must fit completely under the seat in front of the customer and remain there at all times.”

United Airlines spokesperson Maggie Schmerin returned Fox News’ request for comment with the following statement:

“This was a tragic accident that should never have occurred, as pets should never be placed in the overhead bin. We assume full responsibility for this tragedy and express our deepest condolences to the family and are committed to supporting them,” she said.

“We are thoroughly investigating what occurred to prevent this from ever happening again,” Schmerin added.

The cause of death is not yet known, but, while the overhead compartments are not air-tight, lack of oxygen may have been a factor.

The heartbreaking news comes weeks after United and Delta made headlines for tightening rules for flying with animals amid emotional support and service animal controversy.




NRA Life Member
Steak: Rare. Coffee: Black. Bourbon: Neat.
 
Posts: 9676 | Location: Orlando, Florida | Registered: July 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Just for the
hell of it
Picture of comet24
posted Hide Post
United f'cked up but who puts their dog in an overhead bin. I don't care what the FA told you to do. Get off the flight if that is the only option. Did she then not check on the dog during the flight. WTF


_____________________________________

Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain. Jack Kerouac
 
Posts: 16378 | Registered: March 27, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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Is there something specific about the overhead bin that would cause the dog to die? It's still a pressurized compartment. Or did it have a heart attack due to fear or something?
 
Posts: 1168 | Registered: July 06, 2016Reply With QuoteReport This Post
In the yahd, not too
fah from the cah
Picture of ryan81986
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Palm:
Is there something specific about the overhead bin that would cause the dog to die? It's still a pressurized compartment. Or did it have a heart attack due to fear or something?


I'd guess that while the bins aren't sealed, the dog probably had limited airflow.




 
Posts: 6337 | Location: Just outside of Boston | Registered: March 28, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
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United can't catch a break because they don't deserve one

they seem to enjoy making one bad decision after another

the rules for travel are very specific and the FA broke those rules and the FA needs to pay the price for it

I am guessing the dog suffocated - not a particularly easy way to die and I feel bad for the pet and the family



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


 
Posts: 53086 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Almost as Fast as a Speeding Bullet
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posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ryan81986:
quote:
Originally posted by Palm:
Is there something specific about the overhead bin that would cause the dog to die? It's still a pressurized compartment. Or did it have a heart attack due to fear or something?


I'd guess that while the bins aren't sealed, the dog probably had limited airflow.

As guesses go, that probably a pretty solid one. The air volume would not be great just because of all the bags, and the doors would not allow in much fresh. Add in the fact that dog was probably agitated and breathing fast and heavy and it probably suffocated.

Sad. What a complete cock-up.


______________________________________________
Aeronautics confers beauty and grandeur, combining art and science for those who devote themselves to it. . . . The aeronaut, free in space, sailing in the infinite, loses himself in the immense undulations of nature. He climbs, he rises, he soars, he reigns, he hurtles the proud vault of the azure sky. — Georges Besançon
 
Posts: 11502 | Location: Denver and/or The World | Registered: August 30, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Truth Seeker
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I don’t want to click on the link. Was the dog in a soft or hard sided carrier? If it was soft, it might have been crushed. Very terrible no matter what. As Comet said, I don’t care what the FA said; I would have gotten off the flight. Pets are family members.




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Posts: 8657 | Location: The Lone Star State | Registered: July 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Now in Florida
Picture of ChicagoSigMan
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That is just fucked up. What the hell is wrong with United???

And who on earth would comply with an instruction to your dog in an overhead bin?

Stupidity all around here.

RIP little guy. You deserved way better.
 
Posts: 6061 | Location: FL | Registered: March 09, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Otto Pilot:
quote:
Originally posted by ryan81986:
quote:
Originally posted by Palm:
Is there something specific about the overhead bin that would cause the dog to die? It's still a pressurized compartment. Or did it have a heart attack due to fear or something?


I'd guess that while the bins aren't sealed, the dog probably had limited airflow.

As guesses go, that probably a pretty solid one. The air volume would not be great just because of all the bags, and the doors would not allow in much fresh. Add in the fact that dog was probably agitated and breathing fast and heavy and it probably suffocated.

Sad. What a complete cock-up.


Yes that makes sense, I wasn't even thinking along those lines. How terrible.
 
Posts: 1168 | Registered: July 06, 2016Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ice age heat wave,
cant complain.
Picture of MikeGLI
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by StorminNormin:
I don’t want to click on the link. Was the dog in a soft or hard sided carrier? If it was soft, it might have been crushed. Very terrible no matter what. As Comet said, I don’t care what the FA said; I would have gotten off the flight. Pets are family members.


Soft sided.




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Posts: 9676 | Location: Orlando, Florida | Registered: July 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I Am The Walrus
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
United can't catch a break because they don't deserve one

they seem to enjoy making one bad decision after another


I would venture to say there's a cultural problem with their company and it probably trickles down from the top.


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Posts: 13047 | Registered: March 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His Royal Hiney
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That's tough.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
 
Posts: 19583 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Shaman
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Unfortunately these large corporations are protected by an insurance umbrella.
And the dog is "property" with a "value".
And some lawyer will tell them how much their dog is "worth" based on a chart and they will have to settle.
Yes, the victim settles and the company makes the problem disappear.
Time for United to go belly up and be sold off.
Along with all the pensions.





He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.
 
Posts: 39716 | Location: Atop the cockatoo tree | Registered: July 27, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
And say my glory was
I had such friends.
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posted Hide Post
When I flew from Love Field to Phoenix with my new lab pup at the end of January, I had a copy of SW's website as it related to traveling with a pet in a carrier. Stays in the carrier at all times and the carrier stays stowed under the seat in front of you.

I do the same thing when I fly with a gun, I have THEIR rules in my carry-on bag or my lockable gun case.

So sorry for the family.




"I don't shoot well, but I shoot often." - Pres. T. Roosevelt
 
Posts: 1941 | Location: Chandler, AZ | Registered: June 30, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Raised Hands Surround Us
Three Nails To Protect Us
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posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by comet24:
United f'cked up but who puts their dog in an overhead bin. I don't care what the FA told you to do. Get off the flight if that is the only option. Did she then not check on the dog during the flight. WTF


Yup.
4 hour flight. Rental car it is!


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The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad.
If we got each other, and that's all we have.
I will be your brother, and I'll hold your hand.
You should know I'll be there for you!
 
Posts: 25354 | Registered: September 06, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
In the yahd, not too
fah from the cah
Picture of ryan81986
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
Unfortunately these large corporations are protected by an insurance umbrella.
And the dog is "property" with a "value".
And some lawyer will tell them how much their dog is "worth" based on a chart and they will have to settle.
Yes, the victim settles and the company makes the problem disappear.
Time for United to go belly up and be sold off.
Along with all the pensions.


Average price: $500. Depending on breed of dog.




 
Posts: 6337 | Location: Just outside of Boston | Registered: March 28, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Why don’t you fix your little
problem and light this candle
Picture of redstone
posted Hide Post
I don't know. The rule for luggage is that you either put it in front of you, completely under the seat or in the overhead bin. I bet it wouldn't fit under the seat so the flight attendant applied the carry-on rule and was just solving problems, and ordered the bin in the overhead compartment. the policy seems to read for pets to be in carriers and it has to be under the chair in front of the passenger. I assume that means it either fits under the passengers chair or they have to get off the plane.


Also, the dog was reported to be barking in the overhead bin, so the attendant saying they did not realize a dog was in it, doesn't fly either.
It is all just speculation. The attendant made a decision, the owner chose to do something unsafe with their dog rather than get off the plane. United has stated they are at fault. But I think I would have just gotten off the plane.

Again, this is a training issue (Uniteds' fault), owner not thinking issue (owner at fault), attendant didn't do their job correctly (attendants fault). Three strike rule kicks in and one of our furry friends is lost.



This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it. -Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Joshua Painter Played by Senator Fred Thompson
 
Posts: 3575 | Location: Central Virginia | Registered: November 06, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ice age heat wave,
cant complain.
Picture of MikeGLI
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ryan81986:
quote:
Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
Unfortunately these large corporations are protected by an insurance umbrella.
And the dog is "property" with a "value".
And some lawyer will tell them how much their dog is "worth" based on a chart and they will have to settle.
Yes, the victim settles and the company makes the problem disappear.
Time for United to go belly up and be sold off.
Along with all the pensions.


Average price: $500. Depending on breed of dog.


The board of directors will be feeling this in the morning.




NRA Life Member
Steak: Rare. Coffee: Black. Bourbon: Neat.
 
Posts: 9676 | Location: Orlando, Florida | Registered: July 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Little ray
of sunshine
Picture of jhe888
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Terrible decisions were made by all.

I have doubts about whether pets should be allowed in the cabin at all, but why would the flight attendant think the overhead is an option?

And why wouldn't you just drive in the first place?

Or ship the dog in the hold, or by some other means.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
 
Posts: 53118 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
In the yahd, not too
fah from the cah
Picture of ryan81986
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by MikeGLI:
quote:
Originally posted by ryan81986:
quote:
Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
Unfortunately these large corporations are protected by an insurance umbrella.
And the dog is "property" with a "value".
And some lawyer will tell them how much their dog is "worth" based on a chart and they will have to settle.
Yes, the victim settles and the company makes the problem disappear.
Time for United to go belly up and be sold off.
Along with all the pensions.


Average price: $500. Depending on breed of dog.


The board of directors will be feeling this in the morning.


I should note that this number is based on handling auto accidents, with dogs being run over on the owner's property.

The airlines' liability insurance company may handle it differently, but I doubt it. Odds are they do something similar.

People would sometimes send in demands for $20-60k. The most they would usually get is about a thousand.




 
Posts: 6337 | Location: Just outside of Boston | Registered: March 28, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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