British Airways flight mistakenly tells passengers plane will crash

By Hum
in Real World News

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Hum

Posted
Posted

LONDON -- Passengers flying over the Atlantic were terrified when it was announced twice that their plane could be about to crash.

British Airways (BA) Flight 206 was at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters), halfway from Miami to London's Heathrow Airport, when the taped message was played by accident.

Screams rang out as it was repeated straightaway.

An Edinburgh man said, "It was about 3:00am. An alarm sounded, and we were told we were about to land in the sea. I thought we were going to die. My wife was crying, and passengers were screaming. Then they played an announcement telling us to just ignore the warnings."

Another passenger said, "When we landed, they were handing out letters apologizing, but it was the worst experience of my life. I don't think BA should get away with this."

A BA spokesman said of the scare en route to Heathrow on Friday, "The cabin crew canceled the announcement immediately and sought to reassure customers that the flight was operating normally. We apologize to customers for causing them undue concern."

source

Grand Master

_neutrino Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

rather awesome that they would have pre recorded audio for telling the passengers that the plane was going to land in the sea.

Grand Master

Axel

Posted
Posted

An apology letter? Really?

How about refunding the cost of the flight as a minimum to start.

Pffft. How about no? No one was physically hurt and what's more no one died. Perhaps they'll have some new found appreciation for life or some rubbish like that!

  • Sir Topham Hatt, Japlabot, +LogicalApex and 3 others
  • Like 6
Collaborator

HardyRexion

Posted
Posted

Pffft. How about no? No one was physically hurt and what's more no one died. Perhaps they'll have some new found appreciation for life or some rubbish like that!

Show some understanding of human nature! Those people were truly terrified for no reason or fault of their own. I wouldn't get off the plane thankful I'm alive Id get off being more angry than I ever thought possible. And an apology letter would be extremely insulting.

Surely the means to play that message isn't just a button that can be accidently pressed.

Grand Master

ILikeTobacco

Posted
Posted

Pffft. How about no? No one was physically hurt and what's more no one died. Perhaps they'll have some new found appreciation for life or some rubbish like that!

This. If it due to a glitch or accident, nothing was done that was not proper. They immediately stopped the message and cleared it up. Nothing could have or even should have been done different. The harm was done with words and did no actual damage to anyone. The apology is a fitting and proper response. People need to stop thinking they are entitled to something over nothing.

Show some understanding of human nature!

Human nature these days is to sue. Everyone thinks they are entitled to something and that way of thinking needs to stop imo.

Grand Master

ILikeTobacco

Posted
Posted

They pushed the wrong button :)

The plane was wired wrong. Instead of the lavatory in use light turning on, the "we are all going to die" message was played every time someone had to take a dump. :shifty:

  • stereopixels, MidnightDevil and Stoffel
  • Like 3
Grand Master

shakey

Posted
Posted

Hell, I think I'm going to die every time I get on the road due to other drivers. This is nothing but a simple accident that didn't do anything but scare and then make people thankful that they are still alive. Nothing but an apology is needed here. Some people just expect something for nothing, and they are wrong. It was a harmless accident. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just a little baby and should stay inside, because there are things in the world that will give you this type of jolt all the time.

  • Hedon and Japlabot
  • Like 2
Grand Master

ILikeTobacco

Posted
Posted

Hell, I think I'm going to die every time I get on the road due to other drivers. This is nothing but a simple accident that didn't do anything but scare and then make people thankful that they are still alive. Nothing but an apology is needed here. Some people just expect something for nothing, and they are wrong. It was a harmless accident. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just a little baby and should stay inside, because there are things in the world that will give you this type of jolt all the time.

I was actually just thinking the same thing. I have been in a few near misses while driving that were pretty nerve wrecking. To think that the people of this flight should be able to sue for the cost of the flight is dumb. Should I sue every time I ALMOST get in an accident just because it scared me and there was a real threat to my life, not like in this case?

Grand Master

devHead

Posted
Posted

An apology letter? Really?

How about refunding the cost of the flight as a minimum to start.

What? Refunding the cost of the flight? There was no real danger at all. A recording accidentally started playing an emergency message so now everyone gets a free flight? Who even needs the apology letter? Tell everyone on board your sorry, but the flight will be landing as expected and everyone can get out of the plane alive and go on with their normal lives. Anything more and it's just a bunch of ego-stroking for no good reason whatsoever. Bunch of wusses.

  • Hedon, Japlabot and +LogicalApex
  • Like 3
Grand Master

Charisma Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

What? Refunding the cost of the flight? There was no real danger at all. A recording accidentally started playing an emergency message so now everyone gets a free flight? Who even needs the apology letter? Tell everyone on board your sorry, but the flight will be landing as expected and everyone can get out of the plane alive and go on with their normal lives. Anything more and it's just a bunch of ego-stroking for no good reason whatsoever. Bunch of wusses.

This. Good lord, when did it get to this point? People need to grow up.

Grand Master

Hum

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Reminds me of Family guy episode where they fly a plane to get Quagmaire's job back

Reminds me of the Married with Children episode, where Marcy has to fly to New York, and the plane starts shaking, and she is sure she is about to die -- so she punches her obnoxious boss. :laugh:

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it

      By Jaybonaut · Posted

      Nope. That lack of surround sound capability (analog) won't fly with me. Sure, I use headphones most of the time, but still.
    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it

      By Steven P. · Posted

      Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. The headphone amplifier delivers up to 350 mW @ 32Ω, which admittedly far surpasses standard onboard audio, offering support for studio-grade headphones. DSD256 and ASIO 2.3 are also supported. What doesn't it have? No support for What-U-Hear, Super X-Fi, or the SmartComms Kit No EMI shielding, but it passed all the FCC emission tests (from the FAQ) I also want to make it clear that I am no audiophile. For me, it's purely subjective and it should just "work" out of the box. First impressions As I said in the introduction, I was a bit sad to see that the AE-X only supports stereo output, meaning it would not be on par with my ALC1220 over my speakers, as I mentioned it seems like this card is marketed toward headphone users. Since I am not an avid gamer that would rule me out as a potential customer, but I can still test its capabilities! The card arrived in a nice-looking box, as shown above. It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. There's only one connector, and for some reason it is awkwardly placed on the side (front-facing) that is for the front panel audio connector, which will let you use the headphones through the front PC audio jack. Since the front panel Headphone Amp has fewer capabilities than the rear headphone port, I decided not to use it. Rear of card PCI-e interface The rear of the card is completely open and is normally where you would find the front panel connector. The PCIe interface side is completely covered, which initially made me think it was EMI shielded. I/O panel Side (front-facing) with Front panel connector On the outer rear bracket side we have the TOSLINK SPDIF in, Coaxial SPDIF out, RCA line out (Right), RCA line out (Left), Headphone out, and Mic/Line in ports. On the front facing portion of the card itself is the F-panel connector. Usage Test System Our test system consists of the following: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER (BIOS F12) Corsair RM1000x (2024) Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut (33x33x0,2mm) 2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36-38-38-80 T-Force Z540 2TB (PCIe Gen5) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition (NVIDIA) Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Windows 11 25H2 Pro I installed the card into the Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER which includes the RealTek ALC1220 onboard audio. For our subjective listening tests, I used the Coaxial SPDIF port to my Logitech Z906 speakers. For headphone tests I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 Wireless DJ Headphones that I reviewed last month. After installing the audio driver, I installed Creative Nexus, which is a relatively new app designed for the latest Sound Blaster cards. Then I discovered the AE-X needed both a driver update from 1.00.15.0001 to 1.01.09.000 and a firmware update from 1.00.06.0000 to 1.00.06.0002, then I was set to go. It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? It seems like the decision was more of a legacy-based one, offering uncompressed 2-channel PCM audio, for users with high-fidelity audio systems and external DACs. Maybe I will be lucky enough to review a card that truly includes all these features in the future. I am sure readers with far more knowledge on audio systems than me will correct me in the comments below. I'll just say I am happy to learn what I don't know! Where to buy The Sound Blaster AE-X is available to purchase now in preorder for $179.99 on the U.S. Creative website, or for £169.99 on the Creative UK website and will start shipping to customers from June 25.
    • Poll: Grand Theft Auto VI price predictions, cast your vote

      By noobient · Posted

      $80 or 90%, anything else would be financial suicide one way or another.
    • Why you need to take back control of your synced passwords and how to go about doing that

      By noobient · Posted

      Or... just use Bitwarden. Free, and has on-prem option as well. Works both on desktop and mobile, wherever you are. The age of local password files is over.
    • Mp3tag 3.35

      By Jaybonaut · Posted

      Thanks

  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Supreme Spray LV earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Genuinetonerink- Dubai earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Genuinetonerink- Dubai earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      hhgygy earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      AMV earned a badge
      Week One Done

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      513
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      164
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      88
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      74
    5. 5
      Michael Scrip
      73
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!