LAHORE: A female passenger, travelling from Lahore to France through PIA, fell asleep during the flight and woke up when the plane landed back in Lahore after completing its journey, Express News reported on Wednesday.
The plane reached Paris from Lahore, then went to Italy and returned back to Lahore, but no one woke the woman up.
On her return, the woman’s daughter and relatives started protesting and said that it was all PIA’s fault. The woman was also stopped at the Lahore airport on expiration of her visa.
Spokesperson PIA said that a committee has been formed to inquire into the incident, and added that the woman will be sent back without any additional charges.
COMMENTS (93)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
funny how you lot all go on about tax payers money being used, you lot are very good at going to european countries and milking the benefit systems there, seems the boot is on the other foot in this case
I am not a die hard fan of PIA but i read the comments on this issue probably all the people blaming PIA have never travelled on this flight. its practically impossible to keep a track of who is travelling where on such flights with transit passangers always on board the aircraft is never supposed to be empty.Cabin staff is changed at Paris with passangers on board. again there are passengers sitting on the aircraft wen they land at Milan. All those who are blaming PIA must get facts straaight first. its easy to blame some one else especially an organization like PIA with a very shallow reputation.
I seems like a joke we use to hear in our school days. Well the lady should have been subjected to a medical test on arrival at Lahore so that it could have been determined if she was under the influence of some drugs. Well typical Pakistani approach blame it on the government or some one else. lets be fair people was she wearing a "UNACCOMPANIED" tag that PIA staff had to tell her that she needs to get down at this place. I have travelled on this flight there are transit passengers for Milan when the aircraft lands at Paris then Transit passengers bound to Lahore when they Land at Milan. now what do people expect that PIA staff should check the tickets of everry passenger at every landing. PIA has many shortcommings but blaming PIA for this is just not justified. Lets grow up to eccept our own faults. This approach has taken us wherre we are right now at a natioanl level.
And she woke up by someone saying, "Chaloo Ge Lahourrrr Lahoooorrrre!!" hehe! She probably took more than the recommended amount of sleeping pills. LoL ........!
@Chupook: hahahah.. hilarious.. So kar I A!!!!
Are you kidding me? You people live with these color coated glasses and NEVER want to see the real issues when it comes to ANYTHING related to Pakistan. That is why NOTHING ever gets solved, and never will. How is this the woman's fault? ALL airlines have the responsibility to check the cabin at landing and before departing. This is a security issue more than anything else. Shame on PIA and anyone who doesn't recognize who's responsible here.
this is nice, if u want to travel long in the plane just pretend that u are sleeping and afterwards u get a free ticket back home. the story is a joke.
What I want to know is what did she drink before the flight or what she's carrying in her flask - talk about deep sleep?
Nabeel, its not like what you think.
Its not like she slept as soon as she boarded the plane and woke up when the plane landed back in Lahore. She did not sleep for 18 hrs.
Apparantly, she dozed off before the plane neared her destination, Paris, and woke up after the plane took off for Lahore from Italy. She alerted the crew, but obviously, they could not do anything but ask her to calm down.
The ground staff at Paris would have thought that she would disembark in Italy so they might have not disturbed her. Same thing would have happened in Milan. They would have thought that she is travelling from Paris to Lahore and did not wake her up.
Result... she ended up back in Lahore.
She reminded me of Rip Van Winkle :)
Great People to Fly (back) With :)
Someone's been popping things they shouldn't be. How could you be asleep for what 2 days?? Hello! did airport authorities not check the flight and its passengers before letting the plane fly from France to Italy AND BACK??? Also how can French Authorities not be aware of such a big security breach. Person from Pakistan flight boards from LHR and does not check in at the visa counter in Paris. THIS IS HOW TERRORISTS DO WHAT THEY DO!! and then all the world media would remember is Pakistan and KILL.
What if God for bid the woman or any passenger had a medical condition and wasn't able to communicate with the crew or were dead. This is gross negligence on part of PIA's and French authorities. Would you discover the body by following the stench of a rotting corpse?
And whoever says its their tax money being spent - I should think every tax payer in this country should then receive a discount on air fare. PIA is a government owned for profit business. It should be held to the same standards as any other privately owned airline and is liable to answer for gross negligence. As are the French Authorities or PIA authorities not even keeping a count of the passengers on a flight.
Just by the way, the moment she woke up and peered around - PRICELESS
Tanzeel: Was she blonde?
Yes she was :)
I think both parties are to blame for this fiasco. Woman should have been responsible and vigilant enough to let airhostess know about her "problem". On the other hand, the staff should have checked whether all the concerned passengers have disembarked from plane. If they were confused or doubtful, they could have awakened her up and inquire about her destination. Further, they have the final list of all passengers aboard the plane and barring the probability of seat changeover, she could be identified from the list as to where is she supposed to go?
Back to Square 1
Pls someone forward this to Mr Rao Qamar, PIA Chief. for his attention.!! though he will nto do anything as he was at teh helm of affairs when Abbotabad and Salalah incidents took place............................
As someone who has travelled on this flight multiple times (albeit to Islamabad), this is NOT possible. There ARE cleaning crews and assuming she went to sleep an hour before reaching Paris, she slept for another 11+ hours without waking up? Please, how is that possible? Sleeping in an aircraft uninterrupted for so long does not happen. Every time drinks/snacks are served, you will be awakened. Multiple announcements, people getting up. In italy the plane would have been cleaned AND refuelled, a stopover for multiple hours. The plane is switched off, no air conditionings, suffocation. HOW can she have slept through all of this? She didnt wake up to use the bathroom? There is no "Oh PIA ganda hai woh saaf nahin karain gai". PIA is a terrible airline no doubt but they DO have cleaning crews. Even on the Paris stopover a crew goes through the plane. There is a lot more to this. The woman was probably deported or something similar has taken place. Her visa expired too immediately? French border control wouldnt have let her in if her visa was expiring ON THE SAME DAY! Use your mind people. I dont like PIA and neither am i defending here. But there is a lot more going on here than a woman simply falling asleep for 15hrs.
Why has everyone overlooked the fact that on the return journey there was an extra passenger on the plane that was unaccounted for? Serious security lapse and I'm sorry but PIA is fully to blame.
@Hassan: You obviously haven't travelled long distance! Airlines have to wake passengers, plus cleaning etc. Read some of the other more informed comments. Not only should the women be flown back free, the purser should be fired for not checking the rolls etc.
This story is beyond human logic and reason. Following is a summary of the total time the woman slept:
Lahore to Paris: 8 hrs Paris to Rome: 2 hrs Rome to Lahore: 7 hrs Airport minimum connection times: 50 minutes x 2 times (Paris and Rome) = 1 hr 40 mints
The lady slept for around 18 hours in a stretch and that too on a PIA plane; time to call Ripley's Believe it or Not....
PIA has given new meaning to its slogan. Bakamal Log LaJawab Service. I would also like to find out that what the woman ate before boarding the plane for such a sound sleep over 20 hours..
French Sleeping Beauty!
@Ssa@a.com: Lets see the condition of your sofas at home. you see we've got to understand that we cant really go on broadcasting negative things about our home. look at india as an example, they made such a huge fuss when slumdog millionaire was shot there. Although it was a hundred percent true of what they showed india to be like but the citizens of India protested and didnt even celebrate Anil Kapoors oscar winning( not to forget how we pakistanis were so proud of Sharmeen Obaid for portraying a negative image of Pakistan).
What if the passenger was dead? PIA not responsible right??????
This incident is a security breach too. How come an extra passenger was in plane and nobody knew about it?
This story would have been nicer if she got off in Lahore and had beautiful life changing experiences.
:) don't they say....
it feels like coming home....!
Most Pakistanis require an Airport transit visa, which most usually do not have, therefore in most cases transit passengers are not deplaned at European airports.
PIA has a stopover in Paris on its way to Milan.. in Paris people bound for Lahore board the plane and then the plane goes to Milan where the Milan passengers get off and the new passengers bound for Lahore board.at no time do the transit passengers get off the plane and the cleaning staff cleans the plane with the passengers sitting on board.. with so many people on board the flight attendants do not know which passengers boarded the plane in Lahore for Paris or Milan.. hence its not PIA's fault, however a head count is done prior to take off and thus the ground staff is supposed to carry out the head count. obviously that did not happen.. PIA should not pay for the womans return flight, she should be made to pay for it on her own.. its a 8 hour flight to Paris and 7 and a half hours on the way back.. who sleeps for approx. 16 hours anyways and that too on a plane..
This is really strange - I'm a bit confused was the crew not aware of her presence? However in both instances the airline is at fault. Had they known she was there they should have woken her up. That would be the most obvious thing to do. In the event that the airline was not aware of the presence of the woman - is questionable too. One would think that when all passengers leave the aircraft a thorough cleaning would be done for the ones coming on board, clearly that is not the case.
Seriously would love it if she could share what makes her sleep so soundly - I could do with whatever she takes - can't sleep one night without waking up in between :)
@Ayaz Munir: It has happened in other airlines as well, United Airlines was sued by a woman for leaving her asleep: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282125/Woman-sues-airline-leaving-asleep-seat.html
Can't be entirely PIA staff's fault ... The flight was travelling from Lahore to an Italian port ... So, the flights last port of call (where all alight) was not Paris ...Any experienced international traveller can tell you that!!
Well done PIA. Its nothing but an example of the great and comfortable services of PIA. Just imagine how homely and secure environment they are providing that a lady feel that easy that she enjoy all the way back to Lahore.. We must proud of PIA..WHY TO BLAM????
It had to be on PIA..lol..It is PIA's responsibility to check the plane out before any departure. That just goes to show how they don't check anything. There is no standard. She could have been dead for all they know. What would have happened than. Seriously pathetic behaviour after all the money people spend to go on it. But yes would really like to know what did the passenger have :)
@Mohammad Ali Siddiqui
Excellent point you made. I was not aware that cross checking is done with passenger manifest. This implies there was an extra person on the plane who got off in Paris in place of this woman, thereby passing the passenger manifest check.
So who is involved in this smuggling ring ? It looks like PIA, Pakistan immigration (FIA) and ASF were all in on the game.
Just proves how much good sleep one can have while travelling by PIA. No disturbance during sleep can be one of the advantages of travelling by PIA from now on
It only happens in Pakistan.
PIA is not the only airline to demonstrate this degree of incompetence. Read the following story:
An 11-year-old boy boarded a plane from Manchester to Rome on his own without a passport, tickets or boarding pass.He mingled with families to get through checks in Terminal 1 on Tuesday. He was found mid-air on the Jet2 plane after passengers became suspicious. The airline said no head count was carried out on this flight and they would now become mandatory.A Manchester Airport spokesman said a number of airline staff had been suspended.
It is a hoax.
Check for Valium in her blood before its too late!!
PIA efficeincy.
@Hassan: at the destination, cabin crew checks the flight to make sure no one is left behind. If they see any passenger asleep, they do wake them up. It is the responsibility of the staff and this shows how badly PIA imparts training to its cabin crew.
The responsibility needs to be put on the Pilot of PIA Aircraft in which the lady passenger was travelling, as well as on the French Immigration and PIA local staff working at the local airport in France.
The drill is that once the aircraft reach at the destination, the Pilot of the Aircraft handover the passenger's manifest to the Immigration Authorities of the country where the Aircraft finally land.
The Immigration Authorities then check and tally the list with the concerned airline's ground staff and if there is a discrepancy in the head counting, a proper report is made and a complaint is filed with the concerned airline.
Moreover, the aircraft is cleaned by the cleaners and refuelled for the next trip of journey.
It is amazing that no one from the first stop over of PIA Aircraft until it reached backed to Lahore including the Aircraft Crew and the passengers interacted with the lady passenger to know what was her final destination.
slept in a flight on a PIA plan, i seriously doubt that.
There is something basically wrong with this news item. Unless we get full details from both PIA and the Passenger, no conclusions can be made.
@Tahir: It is also a serious security lapse by PIA. They allowed a passenger without a boarding pass (Paris to Lahore) to stay on plane. What if a terrorist takes a Visa for one country, do not disembark and reach target destination (next stop)
@Much Amused: "Cleaning personnel in Paris did not raise alarm? New cabin crew at Paris did not see her? What kind of crappy service is being run? No seat belt checks on take off and landing? " Evidently PIA does not employ cleaning services as the following comment would show. @Ssa@a.com: "Please don’t put misleading pictures of PIA aircraft. PIA planes are not 1/100th as clean "
Furthermore, incoming crew at Paris didn't notice this woman already on plane before boarding had started ? And presumably no one from Paris happened to have the same seat allocated as this woman. How very convenient !
There is more to this story than simply falling asleep for more than half a day.
@Ch. Allah Daad: PML-N really knows how to spread a conspiracy theory in everything. It's a great shame!
Just a minute... plane flew from Lahore to Paris, probably stayed a few hours there while people deplaned, then it was cleaned, then it was reboarded and then it flew to Italy and stopped there for around an hour to pick up passengers. Then it flew back to Lahore where the woman woke up.
Forget about blaming PIA, I would test this woman for drug or alcohol consumption. Otherwise, its impossible to sleep through all that activity and commotion on a PIA flight.
The crew must be the first one to jump off the plane to see Paris. They are responsible to left the sleepy head to Lahore cost PIA a free ticket and 4 meals. Take this money from their paycheck.
I think its PIA's fault. They should have checked that plane was 100% empty before boarding the passengers for next departure. One solution could be to provide stickers that passengers can use to request cabin crew for taking a certain action. For example, at Emirates they provide stickers to mention if cabin crew wakes you up for meal. Simple steps can be taken to prevent such incidents.
I don't know what is funnier - the actual story or the people defending PIA
It cann't happen. Even if PIA cabin crew forgot to wake her up, the ground staff which comes in the plane to clean and for other services must had woken her up. PIA flights are not so comfortable, especially with those noisy children and their careless parents. I think, she is deported from Paris and sent home in the same flight, or someone else went to Paris with her borading card and when flight returned, some official gave her access to arrival lounge to stage the drama.
She must be a heroin addict or something. The flight time one way is around 7 hours. She must have slept for atleast 9 straight hours. Keep in mind the chaos that desi ppl make after landing to get their stuff from overhead compartments.
when the plane landed in Paris did the crew leaving the plane not check if all the seats were empty? when the new crew came onboard did they not see a woman sleeping there? when they did a final check before take off did they not count the number of passengers to tally with the passenger list? Hello PIA you are cycling on the clouds. Its not the woman who had taken pills to sleep but the PIA staff that must be drowsy because of some stuff they must have eaten or drunk.
This means nobody in PIA bothers to clean the plane after a flight!!
Guys, how about running a spell / grammar check before you post?
Haha, I bet she mistook the Minar-e-Pakistan for the Eiffel Tower.
Why do we have to form a committee for every idiotic reason and waste everyone's time : S ? I wonder how didn't she wake up during the landing and take off :/ It causes so much turbulence..
Must've been a really comfortable plane.
Something is not right with this picture .Maybe FBI or Interpole should step in . Cabin staff should be demoted to Islamabad -Skardu flight ...pure negligance on their part ...was no manifest of passengers issued after each stop ? that is a basic standard procedure all airlines use to verify who gets off and who gets on...
@Muhammad Saad: i am sorry but you are wrong here, this just doesn't say about the woman falling asleep it also says that no steward or stewardesses bothered to check the plane after landing, they are supposed to keep track of merchandise such as headphones, pillows and blankets, open up the over head compartment to make sure nobody has left any behind..suppose if it would have been an elderly person who had fallen asleep then your opinion would have been different. Have you seen PIA stewardesses in international airports, they go embarassingly gaga talking loudly, pushing other passengers in rush and stocking up duty free area. PIA doesn't bother grooming them and this is what to be expected. Checking the plane after departure is a part of protocol, paying airline tickets guarantees a passengers safe flight and good polite service that is what air stewardesses and stewards are for. You are paying for each and everything when you purchase a ticket and so if this woman wasn't woken up, she is right for blaming them because she was denied of a service she had paid for and your money is being squandered because of PIA's lack of efforts to curtail such mishaps. since you are concerned about your tax being wasted then voice your opinion against PIA to utilize your money for improvement rather than such 'wastage' question each politcians trip to foreign countries with family along with the hajj and umras they perform at your expense.
It is unusual. The return trip is more than 16 hours. It is impossible unless the woman was sick or intoxicated.
Mr saaed how can u say this not duty of PIA staff aweken the passenger,brother even in Local bus the staff checked the passengers in every bus staff.this is PIA staff responsibility to check the passenger on board
I havnt been able to sleep on a plane this entire century so far. wonder what she took.
@Muhammad Saad Yes it's women's fault but the price is paid by the PIA so ultimately to save money and time, PIA crew should have had awaken the passenger for their best interest, and as a normal courtesy to the passengers.
thank God for autopilot
*A Committee has been formed! this is what we do every time blunder done by us and no one is there to blame.*
Makes me laugh. The round trip mentioned in the article including italy on the way is of at least 20-24 hours. How can some one sleep for 24 hours straight? Some thing is very stupid about the whole incident!
Cleaning personnel in Paris did not raise alarm? New cabin crew at Paris did not see her? What kind of crappy service is being run? No seat belt checks on take off and landing? Wow. What an airline. EU authorities will surely take notice and slap a fine under some rule or the other applicable in this case.
Doesn't seem like PIA's fault and they are nice enough to offer her free flight to Paris again....people in Pakistan love to bash their own but sometimes for the wrong reasons.
I travel so much on PIA, I wonder how she could slept comfortably on PIA's aging Plans..
They formed a committee. Seriously? facepalm
While it was a transit from Lahore-Paris-Italy, round back, it is not possible to ascertain who has boarded from where and would land where. Not a fault of PIA
more comfort seat make you for day who say pia is worst?
Pakistan International Airline, Better than MANY.
@Muhammad Saad......come on...you mean one should not sleep on long distance flight...how funny is it that none of the airhostess asked her for meals...none of them actually checked the flight....the flight was not cleaned...that seat was not allotted to anybody on inbound flight.....and none of the airhostess asked her for meals or drinks on inbound flight as well....:D you are already wasting money of you have PIA in your country....:D
@Muhammad Saad: This is a little harsh, the flight is several hours long and everyone sleeps on long flights. It is part of standard service for all airlines cabin crew to vacate the plane at destination and ensure all passengers have disembarked. Clearly in this case it was not done by PIA staff. It is PIA at fault and the everyone who have clicked here do not understand the process.
So the government tax revenues are now being used to send these women back to France,.Forget schools,hospitals,aeroplane safety,it's much better to waste tax revenues on careless passengers.Why not just set fire to all the taxes we pay.
novel things happen to Pakistanis....so strange that the PIA staff on board was sleeping too
PS. I thought this only happens at local buses.
@Tanzeel:
Disgusting misogynistic mentality is exhibited in the comment.Sexism is not funny,misogyny is not funny.
it was the woman's fault,not PIA's.People should learn to take responsibility for their actions.Stop blaming others for your own mistakes.The airline in this instance did nothing wrong.She paid them to transport her to france,not to act as her personal servants who would awaken the princess.The tv reports say that now PIA will send them to france free of cost to them,but pia is a government organisation that is running with the public's tax money,why is my tax money being used to give this woman a free ride to paris when she can't keep herself from falling asleep? Why is the public's tax payments being wasted on such people?
Was she blonde?
That's so funny. But the question is - what did she take to be able to sleep so soundly on a plane - and can we have some?
Please don't put misleading pictures of PIA aircraft. PIA planes are not 1/100th as clean and the seats are stools compared to see leather bound luxuries in the photograph.
Rude awakening - redefined by PIA ;)