Thursday, February 16, 2012

What's Wrong With This Picture?

English: Coat of arms of Vietnam 日本語: ベトナムの国章
Image via Wikipedia

Vietnam man next to crying child opens plane door



"An airport official says the man will be fined up to $950, and it will cost $10,000 to refit the slide."

Why wasn't the fine $10,000?

6 comments:

Pissedoff said...

You mean for the parent?

Anon1152 said...

From the article: "A mom with a screaming child wanted a quick getaway from a plane on the tarmac in Vietnam and asked for help. The man next to her obliged by opening the emergency exit and triggering the escape slide...The man, identified as 29-year-old Le Van Thuan, told authorities the child's mother asked him to open the door so she and the child could exit faster."

Sounds like he was just trying to be helpful.

Though I'm sure both the man and the mother and the company would like to skip ahead to the point where they can all laugh about this...

BallBounces said...

I suspect that there was a cultural aspect to this as well (though can't prove it). Many non-westerners participate in our culture but don't really "get" it.

Anon1152 said...

What do you mean exactly? I assumed this was a Vietnamese airline. It happened at the Ho Chi Minh City airport, according to the article.

The story as described makes this guy's actions seem more acceptable than, say, this: http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/08/09/angry-flight-attendant-uses-emergency-inflatable-slide-for-dramatic-exit/

BallBounces said...

Well, what I mean is, in contrast with the example you gave, where angry-guy knew exactly what he was doing and how wrong it was, the Vietnamese guy may not have been as aware of how airplane emergency doors are "off-limits" to passengers and how his action would be viewed culturally by a westerner as a definite no-no.. He may have seen the door differently, through a different cultural lens. It's like when you hear a story of someone taking out a portable stove and cooking up a meal aboard an aircraft, that sort of thing.

Anon1152 said...

I wish I knew more about the actual situation. The article was short on details. I'm the sort of person who likes details. To use (or misuse?) a metaphor: I can accidentally lose myself paying attention to a speck of lichen on a tree branch, rather than noticing the forest for the trees).

I'm still reluctant to accept your cultural explanation (but as I said, I'm assuming these were vietnamese people on a vietnamese plane).

And no matter who you are, no matter where you're from, there are times when you might want to throw caution to the wind, and ignore standard western (or eastern) operating procedure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dar2HKImK-0

"... nothing intellectually compelling or challenging.. bald assertions coupled to superstition... woefully pathetic"