http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060901/...ria_plane_dc_1

Typical airline response.
Why can't I get away with running a business that way???

Gee, I wish that girl would post here and tell us how she did it!

I'm with L84SKY!

Yeah, I want to know the secret too. Don't they clean the planes after each flight?

I read this article earlier today and I think it's ridiculous that the airline is blaming a passenger for THEIR mistake. The airline is clearly responsible and she s/b refunded her money.

I agree, PM.

Well, lol, it appears they do NOT clean their planes after each flight.
I would think in order to avoid the bad puclicity the airlines would have just flown this poor girl home again at no additional charge.

Wish I could sleep that heavy on flights! Well not that heavy obviously..but I can usually only sleep at the most for 30 minutes or so.

I posted the article because I thought it was a funny story, but.....

I also think there are some questions as to it's total validity.

Air Malta probably does not clean the plane after a short flight between Malta and Bulgaria. The plane probably gets cleaned after returning to Malta, which is probably an hour or two later. That I can believe.

If it's a turn around then the FAs should and probably do a walk through to pickup any stuff left in the seats and/or seatpockets. Reason #1 that something is fishy with the story.

Since this is a true international flight, I would think that Bulgarian customs officer would walk through the plane after landing just because...Reason #2 that something is not right.

I don't know what kind of plane this was but Air Malta has A319s, A320s and B737s, and all these planes have rear galleys where at least one or two FAs sit during landing. These FAs are the last ones to exit the plane, as they have to wait for everybody else to exit, so reason #3....

What are the chances that her seat was not assigned to a pax on the return flight?

There are few more questions, but IMHO, I think that this is (at least partially) bogus. I can't really explain what, if anything happened, but something is missing from the whole story.

Not completely bogus, but still a few open questions. Check the airline's site at:

http://www.airmalta.com/page.jsp?id=5961&siteid=1

Thanks for the link <b>Phil</b>.

That makes a lot more sense. As I said earlier, there was something missing from the Reuters story, and now we know what it was. The Istanbul stop explains as to how she was able to stay on the plane.

That 17yo girl is one heavy sleeper....She slept through 2 takeoffs, landings and people embarking and disembarking.....

i think some of you jumped to the wrong conclusion.from what i read,the flight was a multiple stop circular flight.

you are confusing it with a simple point to point flight where all the passengers disembark and the plane is parked till its next scheduled flight.

in this sort of flight some passengers get off at intermediate stops while others stay on the plane. if you fall asleep you will miss your stop, just like you would if you slept on a train or a bus.

on every airline the captain explains the stops the plane will make so it is not really a valid excuse to say i didnt know i had to remain awake.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=235686

I've found that a simple &quot;please wake me up if I'm asleep when we get to Indianapolis&quot; does the trick.

I think the mistake was on the passenger's part, but for the airline to charge her for something that cost them nothing (well, okay - fuel) is mean-spirited in the extreme.

They didn't charge her for the return flight, they charged her for the flight home, 4 days later.....

what would happen if she fell asleep
1)on the train to the airport &amp; missed the plane
2)in the airport parking lot &amp; missed plane
3) in the departured lounge &amp; missed plane
4) in some far corner(e.g. the loo) at the gates &amp; missed plane

would an airline, any airline refund you in this case?

Any airline would, if it was a full fare, fully refundable ticket...

That silly dimwit girl should be tested for drugs or a bad case of airheadedness.

That's one reason I don't like Air Malta. I had a ticket Munich - Valetta and they were going to Mallorca fist. Took at least 90 min more than needed. Nobody cared to inform the passengers.

Wow. It's amazing what you learn here. I never knew that if a person falls asleep and doesn't wake up easily, it's because she's dimwitted or on drugs.

I wouldn't go that far but let's look at the chain of events:

Depart MLA - 1st takeoff

Distance to IST - ~850 NM or ~2 hours plus flight time

1st Landing - IST

Some passengers disembarking (making a lot of noise with carry on luggage)
probably ~ 1 hour layover

New passengers embarking (making a lot of noise with carry on luggage)

2nd Takeoff

Distance to SOF - ~350 miles or about 1 hour flight

2nd Landing

Same passenger procedure as in IST

3rd takeoff

And finally, she either woke up during the ~650 mile, 1.5 hour flight to Malta or she was passed out until after 3rd landing in Malta, (another landing).

You have to admit, there was something going on....