Scott Bruni says he thought he was going to die as he ducked his head, squeezed the seat in front of him and was told to "brace for impact" during an emergency landing in September at New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport.
When the right wing of the Delta Connection jet he was on struck the runway, Bruni says, images of the plane cartwheeling down the runway, fire and explosion flashed through his mind. The jet - bound for New York's Westchester County Airport before it was diverted to JFK with a landing gear problem - safely came to a halt, and the pilot ordered Bruni and other passengers to evacuate.
Bruni says he entered the terminal in shock and in need of emotional and psychological support. Instead, he says, Delta gate agents apologized for "the inconvenience," handed out meal vouchers, requested baggage information and organized passengers for a shuttle bus to the Westchester airport.
"It was ridiculous," says Bruni, a consultant in Decatur, Ga.. "They were treating the situation like a flight delay. I needed them to show that they cared about what happened."
Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Susan Elliott says JFK Airport personnel asked passengers how they were doing before gathering information about the luggage left on the flight and arranging for a bus ride to Westchester County.
Bruni is among some fliers who have experienced near-disasters who say they wish airlines were required to provide them comfort and aid after their ordeals. Some passenger advocates and those who have studied assistance provided families after disasters agree.
"If passengers are upset or traumatized from in-flight incidents that are out of the scope of normal airline operations, the airlines certainly have a responsibility to at least arrange for an assessment by a qualified mental health professional, and some follow-up care if needed," says psychologist William Rizzo of Audubon, N.J., who has researched airlines' family assistance plans.
Lyman Lambson and his wife, Melissa Smiley, say they thought a Spirit Airlines jet they were on was going to crash when returning from their honeymoon on a Fort Lauderdale-Las Vegas flight in October. The jet started to lose pressure, suddenly descended, and passengers were told to put on oxygen masks. Passengers were screaming, crying and praying, Lambson and Smiley say.
The plane made a safe emergency landing in San Antonio. But Lambson says their ears hurt and Smiley was fearful of getting on another flight. They say they received no support from airline personnel.
Law applies to fatal accidents
Spirit doesn't fly into San Antonio and has no personnel there. And Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson says passengers were provided hotel rooms and booked the next morning on flights to Las Vegas. They also were refunded the cost of the flight and given a $50 voucher for a future flight, she says.
There's no requirement that Spirit do anything more to accommodate Williams and Lambson because no lives were lost.
Under a 1996 law called the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act, such support is only required for survivors and families of victims in airline accidents involving a "major loss of life." The law directs the National Transportation Safety Board to oversee assistance efforts and designate a non-profit organization responsible for emotional care and support. The Red Cross was given that role.
Airlines must inform survivors and families of deceased passengers that the American Red Cross can arrange or provide mental health and medical services. Airlines must reimburse the American Red Cross for its work.
The law requires carriers to include a plan to publicize a toll-free telephone number for passengers' families; assist them in traveling to, and caring for them at, an accident site, assure them passengers' belongings will be returned and they will be consulted about construction of a memorial.
After the "Miracle on the Hudson" flight, in which a US Airways jet crash-landed on Jan. 15, 2009, in the Hudson River, US Airways sent in its family assistance team to help the 150 passengers on board. The airline did so though no lives were lost. "We gave no thought to the law," says Deborah Thompson, US Airways emergency planning and response director.
Among other aid, US Airways immediately provided $5,000 for each passenger's expenses and paid other expenses, including medical costs and the cost of recovering and restoring passenger items that were lost or damaged.
Some passengers - including one who had a diamond ring returned- were happy and surprised to regain their possessions. But not everyone was satisfied with US Airways' efforts.
Denise Lockie of Charlotte says she received no emotional support from US Airways' family assistance team, even though she was in shock after the incident and spent more than five hours in a hospital. When she was released, two US Airways employees gave her a phone number to call the next day for assistance, she says. Lockie says she called and was told someone would call back in 10 minutes, but no one did.
Lockie says she had no money when released from the hospital, and a TV network paid for her taxi ride and a hotel room.
US Airways' Thompson says it initially was a difficult challenge finding all passengers, because emergency response teams took those with injuries to several hospitals. She says the airline eventually contacted all passengers, provided assistance for up to a week and then let an insurance company handle claims.
Thompson says there's no need to broaden the family assistance act to cover incidents such as the one in the Hudson because airlines have assistance plans to respond when necessary.
Not easily forgotten
Others say including aid to traumatized passengers under the law is a bad idea. "Do you have any idea what that concept would open?" says veteran aviation consultant Michael Boyd.
Passengers, Boyd says, could claim severe turbulence sent them to a psychiatrist or an engine failure "caused my 3-year-old to forget his potty training."
But Bruni, the Delta Connection passenger traumatized by the emergency landing at JFK, says his experience wasn't easily shrugged off. He says he subsequently needed to meet three times with a psychologist at the Emory University School of Medicine Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program.
"Scott was very upset and very tearful during our first meeting," says Barbara Rothbaum, the program's director who was given permission by Bruni to speak about his case. "He was upset about his reaction to the landing and the reaction of the airline."
Bruni says airlines need to have "someone at the terminal trained to identify or ask who is having a hard time after an incident like the one I was in.
"I needed someone to show concern - not a $500 voucher to travel somewhere in the future."
By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
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