A plane in southern China was delayed for almost three hours because a woman refused to sit upright. The flight was about to take off when this happened. The woman said she needed to lie down because of a medical issue.
(Photo : Gerrie van der Walt on Unsplash)
China Flight Delayed Due to Passenger's Medical Condition
On a recent flight scheduled to depart from southern China, a unique situation caused a significant delay. A passenger, a woman, insisted on lying across several seats instead of sitting upright in her assigned seat as the plane was preparing to take off.
According to the South China Morning Post, she claimed that a medical condition necessitated her reclining position, which led to a delay of 175 minutes as the crew attempted to resolve the issue.
The incident started when flight attendants asked all passengers to adjust their seats to the upright position, a standard procedure for takeoff. However, the woman did not comply, explaining her health concerns prevented her from sitting up.
The flight crew tried to assist her and sought alternative solutions, but were unable to accommodate her needs without further delaying the flight.
This delay affected not only the schedule of the plane departing from China but also the travel plans of many other passengers on board. Some passengers expressed frustration as they had connecting flights and important events that they would now miss or be severely late to.
The airline, after lengthy discussions, eventually managed to commence the flight nearly three hours behind schedule. They apologized to the affected passengers and explained that the safety and well-being of all passengers are their top priorities.
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Taiwan Responds to China's New Flight Paths in Taiwan Strait
Meanwhile, Taiwan has vowed to continue managing the airspace around its territory after China initiated two new flight paths over the Taiwan Strait. These actions by China have raised concerns about air safety near Taiwan.
On April 18, the Civil Aviation Administration of China declared the opening of two eastbound routes, W122 and W123, which connect to the M503 flight path.
The M503, which was first created in 2015 without Taiwan's agreement, runs vertically through the middle of the Taiwan Strait towards the Chinese cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen.
As per Focus Taiwan, China also removed a previously agreed adjustment to the M503 path on February 1. This adjustment had shifted the route 11 kilometers westward after a 2015 agreement between Taipei and Beijing, to keep it away from the central line of the strait.
Taiwan's aviation authorities are worried because these new paths are too close to Kinmen and Matsu islands, which are governed by Taiwan but located near China's Fujian province. These islands are linked to Taiwan by many daily flights.
Taiwan plans to keep reminding planes using these new paths that they must get permission from Taiwan before using them. This measure is to avoid these paths becoming a permanent route without Taiwan's consent. Such steps are similar to Japan's practices near the Senkaku Islands, where they document Chinese activities to assert their rights.
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