European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 27, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Betsy Wade new York times a Mong the pains of air travel in the untied states one of the most frustrating is sitting in an air plane while ii goes no  Are confined and unless you Era i first or business class you have nothing to Eal of drink. Often people waiting for you Al the other end cannot learn where you fire. A Cluster of stories of being trapped illustrates that nonfunctioning equipment is a big cause bul no one wants to crash. What creates passengers Lury is airlines frequent unwillingness to give a candid answer about the cause of these delays. One rough Rule of thumb seems to be that the bigger the plane the longer the wait. If to j arc planning an International trip on a jumbo Jet from the United steles you should probably drop a snack into your carry on bag while yet you can and be sure you carry issues or moist Lowel Eltes. Herbert and Lolanda Low of Newton. Mass., were resuming from Tokyo to new York on june 1 on Northwest airlines. When flight 18 left Tokyo the 350 passengers were fold there would be an unscheduled refuelling Stop in Minneapolis because the plane which was a substitute could not otherwise make it to new York. Low said that conditions in the toilets were unpleasant by the Lime the plane put Down in Minneapolis alter 11 hours. The passengers were lot that . Customs refused to Clear the flight there and that no one could leave the plane. Low said thai passengers were also told that customs had refused to Lei a cleaning Crew or new food aboard. The plane refuelled and the Crew was changed which Low said took an hour and three quarters. Cherise Miles a customs spokeswoman for the North Central Region said thai Northwest had asked Only for a technical Stop which involves fuel and Crew but did not ask for customs help. She explained that for the plane to be cleaned and the toilet tanks and other refuse removed the department of agriculture would have to be on hand. The passengers would first be debarked either into a Sec rile holding area where they would not be in con acl Wilh other people or they would be cleared through customs. Public health and immigration. There is a charge to the airline for doing this she said and the help must be requested. Bob Gibbons a spokesman Tor Northwest said that that the International arrivals facility in Minneapolis so. Paul was Able to handle Only one flight at a Lime and that in was possible that another plane was going through. Gibbons said that flight in was almost always full and though ii often enough had to refuel in the twin cities ii was very rarely cleared through customs there the Crew asserted that customs was responsible for passengers being stuck on Board and technically they were right but Given that the airline had not asked for clearance the assertion was disingenuous to say the least. If another plane was using the facilities the passengers should have been told that clearance in Minneapolis would require x additional hours and that the line elected to continue on to naw York toilet. Problems or no. A variation on july 5, a few Days after Royal jordanian airlines opened service from new York to Calcutta India via Amman Jordan Salb Guh Sarkar of Brooklyn booked the flight to visit his dying Mother. The flight was 4vt to 5 hours late taking off. And the passengers on the 747 spent at least three of these hours aboard waiting and without dinner. The flight was originally due to leave new York at 10 30 . Mark Ermal of Royal jordanian said the plane was two hours Fate in arriving and that passengers were notified at Home phone numbers that the flight would take off two hours late. Guha Sefkar said no one gathered for the flight had been told of the delay. The Light was boarded at Midnight Ermal said Guh Sarkar said it was earlier then Ermal said the Crew found a bag for which there was no passenger. Which posed a Security problem. Solving Iho problem look 40 minutes. The plane taxied out Ermal said and the Pilot had difficulty with the Brake pressure. The plane was Back at the Gate Al 1 27 a.m., but the passenger were kept aboard because the problem was considered minor and ii would Lake 45 minutes to unload the plane and 45 minutes to Leboard 11. The Brake took an hour and 20 minutes , i almost what would it would have taken to Debar and reload. The plane was cleared for departure at 2 57 v a.m., Ermal said and the passengers were Given their dinner then. Guh Sarkar said it took off at 3 30 a.m., 3teor 4vi Houra after  to Why the passengers were pot led while they waited Ermal said that using heating facilities on the \ ground disturbed radio communications and besides it look a. Long time to distribute 300 meals and pick them up the plane cannot Takeoff while passengers have food in their laps. This was a judgment Call if the passengers who wanted to get Oil had been allowed to but had remained inside quarantine which could have been done there probably would not have bean a worse delay and some of the anger at missed connections in jailed on terminal Mutton of. Tortat ttys grounded on a alarm going nowhere without explanation for few my Page 14 the stars and stripes sunday. N