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Flying stories


Parsnip Totin Jack

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Most of us have flown in the past and everyone has that one incident that they will never forget. I used to travel a lot for my job. Not extended trips other than overseas flights but one or two nights away from home, two or three times a month. One trip I was flying from DC to Jacksonville FL. It was springtime and thunderstorms are common that time of year. There was a bad cell right over Jacksonville as we approached from the west. The plane was shaking all over and would drop, rise, and pitch left to right as the pilot fought the effect of the wind. The passengers were mostly white knuckled as we prayed silently for a safe landing. I was in the aisle seat of the last row. Not a good place to be in turbulent weather as the effects of the movement are exaggerated. The guy in the window seat to my right was dressed nattily, suit, tie and spiffy dress shoes. We dropped lower as we approached the airport but conditions weren't right for the pilot and as we were over the runway but too high to touch down, he pulled up and away from the airport. He announced that he didn't feel comfortable on that approach and was going to circle around to try again. It took about 15 minutes to come around again and this time he nailed it but it was not a comfortable landing as we were moving left, right, left, right, BANG. Hit the Tarmac hard and braked hard to slow the plane. Whew, a collective sigh of relief could be felt and tension was released by over 60 people. In the seat ahead of suit-man was a little boy, maybe 7 or 8 years old. I could see home thru the gap between the seats. I was watching for his reaction and he seemed unfazed by the event until he leaned over the gap between the seats and vomited. Ooh nasty. I watch the purge drip down to the floor and realized that my seat mate was unaware of what just happened and if he stretched out his feet he'd need a shoe shine at the airport. Being helpful I leaned over and told him what occurred and that he might want to be careful. A panicked expression on his face turned to horror and he bolted up the aisle for the exit before we had even arrived at the gate. I believe he was successfully the first one off the plane.

any stories?

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I may have told this one but I used to fly the Hartford to Orlando round trip weekly or at worst every other week, down at 7am monday morning back on the 5pm friday.  On one return trip there were a couple of very tasty college coeds in the row behind me (the dirty old man).  Part way through the flight after dark flight one asked the other if she knew where we were.  I turned my head and said Raleigh NC just over to the left front.  Receiving a stony silence along with a muttered "sure whatever" I sat back and waited.  Within about 2 minutes the pilot over the intercom said "those of you sitting on the left can look out and see the lights of Raleigh NC.  The guy sitting next to me looked over an raised an eyebrow and nodded.  I chuckled and pointed to my watch.  Maybe I flew that route too often.

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Never really had any scares on a commercial flight that I recall.  In the Army I remember flying in a UH1 and the thing hit a dead air pocket or such and just dropped about 500'.  OMG talk about stomach in your throat!   On another flight I was in the second crewchief seat and started getting sprayed with hot liquid.  I got on the intercom and said hey we got some fluid spraying out back here.  Pilot:  "Yeah we've got a hydraulic leak, we're gonna put the bird down before it puts us down"....  He actually had to auto gyrate (or whatever you call it) but basically a controlled crash in this meadow in the back woods of VA.  That was a little scary. 

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One time I was in an aisle seat and my right knee simply would not fit so it was hanging out into the aisle.  I had my eyes closed and the flight attendant nailed it with the drink cart.  She was apologetic and she gave my wife and I a complimentary bottle of bubbly for my trouble.

In July we flew a redeye from Portland to Philadelphia, coming home from Alaska - landing at 4:30am PHL time.  You know how you can get so tired it almost hurts just to be awake?  I simply could not get comfortable enough to sleep (and for that leg I was in a first class seat).

I suppose I am happy that these are the worst flying stories I have.

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I was boarding a flight back home when I use to travel coast to coast a lot. Because I like some room, it is not unusual for me to try to get the emergency exit row.  I got on the plane and took my seat on the aisle of the exit row.  A guy gets on and sits down beside me by the window.  As per normal, as we are taxiing out the flight attendant comes down to do her thing.  She is telling us, "Don't open it until told to do so, then check for fire out the window.  One hand on the bottom, grab the handle at the top, pull, turn, and pull the door in, turn it sideways and throw it out.  As she was saying it, buddy puts his hands in the proper position, turns the handles and pulls the door in and opens it about a foot.  I can see outside.  He then shuts it and puts his hands down like nothing happened.

I said to the lady, "You saw that, right?  It was open"  She said "yeah, we are going to have to get that checked."  So back to the airport, delayed leaving, missed my connecting flights.  I said to the guy once we were in the air that he screwed up a lot of peoples plans, and he said "I don't know what the big deal is, I would be the first one sucked out"  I said "Yeah, but I'd be the second!"

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One time while still in the Army I was flying home on on leave.  My grandparents were visiting from Holland and my mom asked if I would travel in my Blues as they would think that's cool.  So I did and as we were getting everyone sorted out on the plane one of the flight attendants came up to me and asked me to grab my stuff and follow her.  I thought, damn WTF am I getting bounced off the flight?!?! She pulls me up to the front of the cabin and said they overbooked and they are giving my seat to a coach passenger, oh and giving me a free upgrade to 1st Class!  I was a 20 YO E-4 sitting up with the big spenders in 1st class drinking free beer eating nice food.  

That was pretty cool! 

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5 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

One time while still in the Army I was flying home on on leave.  My grandparents were visiting from Holland and my mom asked if I would travel in my Blues as they would think that's cool.  So I did and as we were getting everyone sorted out on the plane one of the flight attendants came up to me and asked me to grab my stuff and follow her.  I thought, damn WTF am I getting bounced off the flight?!?! She pulls me up to the front of the cabin and said they overbooked and they are giving my seat to a coach passenger, oh and giving me a free upgrade to 1st Class!  I was a 20 YO E-4 sitting up with the big spenders in 1st class drinking free beer eating nice food.  

That was pretty cool! 

Addendum to this story... That was the last time I saw my Opa.  I remember they were all expecting me and when I came to the door he opened it, took one look and tears welled up in his eyes with pride.  I'm named after this Opa and we were always close.  Unfortunately he got sick on that trip to the states and died shortly after returning home.... 

I was a Shift Supervisor at that time and was in charge of all patrol activities on base.  I just happened to be in the PMO (Provost Marshall's Office) as i just dropped off a knucklehead in the D Cell.  I was shooting the bull with the Desk Sergeant before going back out when the phone rang.  He asked me to answer it and I did and it was my mom?!?!?!  In my 4 years in service she only called me that one time, WTF were the ods of that happening?!?!?   Anyway she called to tell me Opa died... 

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In college, I travelled as a photographer for a finish line photography company.  Shot races all over the US.  We would often catch red eyes and we would often flirt with the flight attendants.  One trip, we sat in the back with them and collectively drank all the orange juice and vodka on the plane.

One flight out of Vegas, could hear an engine spooling up and down.  Flight attendant got a call on the phone and her eyes got really big.  We were told we were returing to Vegas.  Everyone was told to buckle up.  Plane did not sound normal at all.  When we landed, there were fire trucks on the side of the runway and guys in the metallic fire fighter suits waiting for us.  We were informed we had an "overheating issue" in the tail of the aircraft.  

We eventually deplaned and went back to the terminal.  Lots of very scared people, some that refused to get back on a plane who rented a car and drove back to Dallas.

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Plenty of unpleasant (relatively) flying stories. Many, many uneventful flying stories. But here's a nice memory: Flying alone back from Paris. Got on the plane, found my seat, settled in. The plane was still loading. Some person comes up. Looks at the seat numbers. Looks at me. Shows me their ticket. Same seat assignment. We grab a flight attendant who speaks to the other passenger first (a Frenchie, maybe?), anyway, she asks to see my ticket. She sort of scratches her head. I look at her, and say something along the lines of "I don't care where I sit. They can have the seat."  She smiled, gave the person my seat, told me to wait a minute. She disappeared, I watched people continue to board and fill the plane. After what seemed like way more than a minute, she returned and said "Follow me".  She took me to the business class section and seated me there.  The whole flight home, it was fun having the flight attendants come by and ask "How are you doing, Mr Razor's Edge?" or "Would you like something else to drink, Mr Razor's Edge."  Not bad. Normally I get on a plane, start reading, and zone out.  It was nice to actually stretch out a bit and enjoy free stuff.

Tom   

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I flew 100+ times per year from 1991-2000. I've got a few stories.

One fine winter morning I was flying out of Appleton, WI on the 0600 flight. The plane came in the night before & sat outside in -10 weather.

Bombardier 2 engine jet was ready to go. taxied to the end or the runway, made the turn, accelarated & got to about the go-nogo point when he slammed on the brakes & we squealed to a stop at the other end of the runway.

<<crickets>>

Pilot: "OK, folks, you who are still conscious may have noticed that we didn't take off. We got a light on, but it went off. We think it's cold related. We're going to go back & try it again."

Taxied back to Position-A, stood on the brakes, firewalled the engines, let off the grippers,  & took off like Tom Cruise in Top Gun.

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I remember...... A time I was in a puddle jumper from either Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids to ORD.  29 minutes max air time.  We are just south Chicago on a clear blue sky day early in the morning.  All of a sudden in about 0.003 seconds the plane rotates 90 degrees to the left.  In the amount of time it takes for the pilot to 'jerk' the plane back to level I had grabbed the seat back in front of me.  In what seemed like minutes (but in what was really about a second or two) the 15 or so passengers all saw our lives flash in front of us.  As I relaxed my grip in the seat bask in front of me I realized I had a good sized chunk of hair from the long haired brunette in front of me.  She never said a work and neither did I.  The captain came on and explained that we had hit a contrail from a larger jet.  He explained that they drop at a certain rate and ATC was supposed to keep him out of them.  Oops.

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3 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I remember...... A time I was in a puddle jumper from either Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids to ORD.  29 minutes max air time.  We are just south Chicago on a clear blue sky day early in the morning.  All of a sudden in about 0.003 seconds the plane rotates 90 degrees to the left.  In the amount of time it takes for the pilot to 'jerk' the plane back to level I had grabbed the seat back in front of me.  In what seemed like minutes (but in what was really about a second or two) the 15 or so passengers all saw our lives flash in front of us.  As I relaxed my grip in the seat bask in front of me I realized I had a good sized chunk of hair from the long haired brunette in front of me.  She never said a work and neither did I.  The captain came on and explained that we had hit a contrail from a larger jet.  He explained that they drop at a certain rate and ATC was supposed to keep him out of them.  Oops.

90 degrees roll or yaw?

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I was doing a weekly ATL-ORD-ESC-ORD-ATL run. One week, flying out of ESC,  there's a profound asshole giving the flight attendant a very hard time over something she had absolutely no control over. We all know the type.

Anyhow, the drink cart gets back to me, she's barely holding it together, and I get my drink. I kind of lean over towards her and say "Aye, in the old days we used to keelhaul the folks with bad manners." I got a wistful grin out of that.

So, about 3 weeks later, I'm on the same flight, same airport, same time of day, and I see the same flight attendant as I'm getting on the plane. She looks at me, & I see the look of partial recognition on her face, with the furrowed brow of she can't quite remember where or when.

I give her the ole 2Far grin & asked her if she's had to keelhaul anyone lately. That brought a laugh & high five.

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10 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I remember...... A time I was in a puddle jumper from either Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids to ORD.  29 minutes max air time.  We are just south Chicago on a clear blue sky day early in the morning.  All of a sudden in about 0.003 seconds the plane rotates 90 degrees to the left.  In the amount of time it takes for the pilot to 'jerk' the plane back to level I had grabbed the seat back in front of me.  In what seemed like minutes (but in what was really about a second or two) the 15 or so passengers all saw our lives flash in front of us.  As I relaxed my grip in the seat bask in front of me I realized I had a good sized chunk of hair from the long haired brunette in front of me.  She never said a work and neither did I.  The captain came on and explained that we had hit a contrail from a larger jet.  He explained that they drop at a certain rate and ATC was supposed to keep him out of them.  Oops.

I was on my way from ORD to IMT on one of those old Beechcraft 1900s (9 down the left, 9 down the right and 1 in the middle on the back row. )

Somewhere in betwixt A&B, we hit what felt like a damn speed bump. WHAM! Nuthin' from the cockpit and the access door was in the rear of the aircraft, so I couldn't ask when we got there.

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I'm checked in at GRB & wandering around the concourse when I look out the window at  the plane I'm about to get on. The pilot and ground crew guy are having quite an animated convo while pointing at the port engine. Quite animated. Pilot's shaking his head, GC guy is waving his arms, pilot points to the engine, GC guy gives the "declines the penalty" hand signal.

I'd seen enough. walked back down the concourse, called the travel agent to have me fly out of MKE on the next flight, got a different rental car & drove at warp factor 7.3 to MKE

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Dunno where I was going, but was seated in FC on a big plane (two aisles). There's an older gentleman sitting next to me. We start to talk, he works for one of the big SDI defense contractors, been there since the mid-fifties when he graduated with a degree in physics. His company was one that was developing/developed lasers that could target & destroy incoming missiles.

I asked him, "I know that the density of air changes with temperature & altitude and that light will refract differently through different density materials, how do you adjust for that?"

He got kind of quiet, looked at me, and said, "Who do you work for again?"

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8 minutes ago, 2Far said:

Flying from GTR to ATL to somewhere else. Bad thing about GTR, if you died, you either had to go thru ATL or DFW to get to heaven or hell.

Anyhow, I flew out every week, knew the GTR folks by name, knew their kids' names, where their spouses worked, etc. By the time I cleared the double doors, they'd have my boarding passes printed out & two baggage claim tickets for my luggage (even then there were some things you just couldn't carry on board)

I went thru what accounted for security & boarded the plane. I climb the stairs, greet the attendant, look down the aisle & there's no one else on the plane. WTF? FA says, "You're the only one".

Srsly? I don't have to go tonight, I can go tomorrow. she says nope, equipment has to be back in ATL tonight, we're going with or without you. Sit anywhere you like. 8C it was.

She had fun with it, she did the whole emergency talk with my name in it. Mr. 2Far, need anything? Mr. 2Far would you like a blanket? Thank you for flying Delta Connection tonight Mr. 2Far.

I hope you gave her "the ole 2Far grin" at least.

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My wife, daughter, and I were living in eastern South Dakota in 1968-70. One Easter we flew to Houston to visit my folks. We got a late start to Sioux Falls, SD, and drove on extremely icy roads all the way from Brookings. When we tried to get a motel room, we found nothing available, as they were having a state basketball tournament. Thus we spent a very cold night in the car at the airport, waking up periodically to run the heater. We made it onto the plane, but all were very sleepy.  On our first stop the attendants became very busy shooing folks from the airplane, and we were slow, as our daughter had trouble waking up from a deep sleep.  We finally departed and through the window of the airport saw that they wheeled our plane out to the end of the runway, far away from the terminal. That is when we learned there had been a bomb scare. They searched the plane, found nothing and put us back on for the remainder of the flight to Houston.

Another time I had attended a meeting in either Nebraska or Oklahoma, and most of us returning from the meeting had caught some type of flu. We flew into Dallas and then boarded the much smaller plane that would fly us to College Station.  It was storming, and several of the airlines had cancelled flights.  We flew on bouncing all the way with lightning flashing outside our windows.  We made it home safely, but we were all glad when we departed the plane. It took most of us a week or more to get over the flu.

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June, 2000.  Flying home from Shannon, Ireland through the night to Chicago.

Nice clear morning on approach to ORD, clear for landing and in we go...and for no apparent reason the pilot pulled out and went around.  No explanation given.  Takes quite a while to get back into que...clear for landing and, again, in we go...and for no evident reason the pilot pulls out AGAIN.  Said to wife "this never happens" something is way wrong...like maybe landing gear not deploying.  Anyhow, third time was a charm.  Nice smooth landing.  Finally pilot comes on with some really lame non-explanation.  I still don't know what the problem was.  Maybe the Irish pilot needed to sober up?

 

 

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Several summers ago, I was returning to GTR thru ATL from RIC. RIC was late getting off the ground & I missed my GTR flight.

I get to the gate, Miss DA says hello, I say I need to get to GTR. she says flight is over booked, I can get you on the 7:30 flight (meaning the 1:30 and 4:30 flights are already full).

2Far: OK. She types my info into the matrix, "Oh, Mr. 2Far (aka Mr. Platinum), I can get you on the 1:30.

2Far: Thx

Meanwhile Wo2 calls & advises that the weather has gone from DefCon5 to The Wizard of OZ. She says stay put if i can.

1:30 PA announcement: We need volunteers. Voucher & meal tickets & 4:30 flight. 2Far Volunteers.

1:30 flight cancelled.

4:30 PA announcement: We need volunteers. Voucher & meal tickets & 7:30 flight. 2Far Volunteers.

4:30 flight departs

7:30 PA announcement: We need volunteers. Voucher & meal tickets & 9:30 flight. 2Far Volunteers.

7:30 flight cancelled

9:00 4:30 flight lands back at ATL, not having landed at GTR.

9:30 PA announcement: flight cancelled, more vouchers, meal tickets & night stay.

2Far goes up to counter: please book me in first class on 0500 flight to DAL & 0900 flight to GTR from DAL. Miss DA smiles & says: done, you are good to go.

 
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I was driving on the highway to the GTR airport, the day after Memorial Day 1999. I wasn't late, just tooling along. I passed a string of cars in the right lane when I noticed the guy in front of me jink suddenly into the right lane. I remember thinking that he musta learned to drive in Atlanta. We were coming up on an overpass and I saw I was closing rapidly on a car in my lane under the bridge. I went for the brakes & afterwards I told Wo2 I realized two things at the same time: 1) I was not going to stop in time; and 2) he was coming towards me. I knew there was a line of cars to my right  (the ones I'd just passed) and the grassy median to my left. Just before impact I went left & he went to his right. We hit not quite head on, the front of my truck went up in the air & I ricocheted left, side swiped the barrier under the bridge and went right across both lanes and ended up on the right shoulder.

Those that have been through it, know there's a moment of realization that you're still alive. I thought that the airbag didn't go off, then realized the '94 Ranger didn't have one, then a quick PTA to check the vitals, and then I got angry. I extracted myself from the steaming, smoking, dripping wreckage & called 911. Not my most eloquent convo. I was pissed, and quite possibly threatened to kill the MFer if he wasn't already dead. I looked over at the smoking, steaming wreckage of their ~'85 old-folks 4-door sedan and there was a trooper already there. I called Wo2, told her I was OK, the Ranger earned the MoH, & she'd have to come get me.

Wo2 got there pretty quick. There was a weigh station on our side of town and there were a coupla troopers there (unusual) but she didn't see any wreckage. She stopped & the troopers said it was on the other side of town. She got there, took one look at the truck & we wetly hugged. Trooper came up, made sure I was Ok, showed me the other driver's license & the sig line said "His Mark", in what I would characterize as a woman's handwriting. He'd signed it with an "X". I was praying that he had insurance, b/c about 50% of folks in in MS at the time didn't. He did.

Wo2 says whatcha going to do? I looked at my watch & said, I think I can still catch my plane. WTF, really? Sure, I'm OK & what else am I going to do?

So, I am a living testament that the trip to the airport is more hazardous than the flight away from it.

 
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3 hours ago, Goat Geddah said:

June, 2000.  Flying home from Shannon, Ireland through the night to Chicago.

Nice clear morning on approach to ORD, clear for landing and in we go...and for no apparent reason the pilot pulled out and went around.  No explanation given.  Takes quite a while to get back into que...clear for landing and, again, in we go...and for no evident reason the pilot pulls out AGAIN.  Said to wife "this never happens" something is way wrong...like maybe landing gear not deploying.  Anyhow, third time was a charm.  Nice smooth landing.  Finally pilot comes on with some really lame non-explanation.  I still don't know what the problem was.  Maybe the Irish pilot needed to sober up?

 

 

Maybe Harrison Ford was there?

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Most of mine would be military, and those are WAY too long.  Interesting, but long.  But, one civilian puddle jumper I was on was funny. To me at least.  Small twin engine from Montgomery, AL to Atlanta.  Full plane.  Some BIG passengers.  Being a Loadmaster I was concerned about weight and balance, and I could tell it was way off.  Sure enough, the stewardess started moving people around.  Left, right, forward, aft.  Took a while but I was satisfied when she was finished.  And she didn't even have to fill out a Form-F.  :whistle:

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I flew in to Pittsburgh one night from Houston at around midnight. Hardly anyone in that part of the terminal because the shops are all closed and few flights during the night. I head over to catch the tram back to the main terminal and they said there were no trams running, please be patient. More planes keep landing and everyone is lining up waiting for the trams that are not running. I was talking to a lady that seemed quite upset, she was carrying a small cooler. It turned out she was one of Parr8's people and she had a organ that needed to be in one of the Pittsburgh hospitals pronto. I found someone with a walkie talkie (they had been laying low because they didn't want to have to answer questions). He got ahold of somebody and a police car arrived in about a minute to take the lady to the hospital. An hour or so later they finally allowed the trams to run again. They had a bomb scare at the main terminal and didn't want anyone up there until the area had been cleared. I still made it home in plenty of time to get to work. Didn't get much sleep.

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6 hours ago, jsharr said:

In college, I travelled as a photographer for a finish line photography company.  Shot races all over the US.  We would often catch red eyes and we would often flirt with the flight attendants.  One trip, we sat in the back with them and collectively drank all the orange juice and vodka on the plane.

 

Stop right there.  I think it starts off...I never thought it would happen to me

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Circa 1999 a paper mill in SC dumped their black liquor system into their waste water system. This is a major, major malfunction. Last time they did it, it cost them $50k per day. They called us & ordered $50k of product and a tech guy to help them out. One (serious) problem was that they were expecting a tropical storm to come thru about the time our first truck was going to arrive.

Packed rain gear & my light saber, high-tailed it to GTR for the last flight of the day, told the agents say hello to their kids & spouse for me, checked the same two bags I always check and got on the plane with the only other passenger.

Pilot greets us at the cabin door says "Mr. 2Far, I have good news and bad news. Bad news is we're running late. Good news is that we're the one's flying you from ATL to ILM, so you cannot possibly miss your connection"

I get to ILM, storms a-brewing. No baggage. WTaF? How can that happen?.

I get the CS number, it's too late to file a claim. Have to do it via voice mail. I get my car & head to the mill. They give me a well worn rain suit & we go out into the waste treatment plant on a berm between the serpentine flow of the water. The rain is freakin' sideways. At least i'm not the guy in the freakin' rowboat in the lagoon with whitecap, placing the hose with a concrete block.

I get to the hotel at oh-something-thirty hang my soaking clothes up to dry & catch a few winks.

Next AM I call Delta, no joy. ATL doesn't have my bags, they have to call GTR. GTR doesn't open until an hour before the first  flight at 11 AM.

I go to local mall & buy clothes & drawers. Back into the monsoon.

I get a call back, GTR just opened, no they don't have my bags. They'll keep looking.

2 PM I get a call. Turns out that on the flight out of GTR I was the only one who checked bags. Mine were still on the little conveyor between the counter & the back room. No, I don't want them to send them now, I have a flight out of ILM this afternoon.

Then the bottoms drops out of the storm (again) I have to stay another night.

I get back to GTR the next day, my bags are at the counter. I ask for the number of their corporate office. Before I get back to the plant my phone rings with the regional manager, much apologies, they pay me 3 days of some kind of per diem, pay for my new clothes & we kiss & make up.

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One December I was trying to get home from North Carolina out of a small, remote, rural airport.  I forget the place; I think it was named after a cat, or a bird, or something. Anyway, not much choice in airlines, so I had to get a flight on an old twin prop plane.  And I mean old.  The thing looked like the wings were held together with wire.

So I'm waiting for take off and the pilot starts with the usual patter "Thank you for flying with us, natter, natter, I'm Orville (no lie! he looked like an Orville too), I'll be your pilot, natter, natter, weather is natter, natter.  Finally he shuts up and we start to take off.

We lift off the runway and got to maybe, 20 feet, if that.  Total of maybe 10 or 15 seconds in the air, hardly 100 feet from take off and the idiot pilot bangs the plane back down on the runway and shuts it down.  He gets out of the pilot's seat and starts jumping all around doing some sort of happy dance, and some other guy from the ground crew comes running up to the plane, and he's grinning and jumping all around too like some miracle happened, or something.

I think it's a miracle I'm not dead even after such a short flight in a baling-wire plane with a pilot who seemed like he never got a plane off the ground before.  Then the pilot says to the other guy 'That was great!  Now it's your turn, Wilbur!'  And I'm thinking 'I just got swindled out of the mid-flight peanut snacks!' :angry:

So these two clowns haul this clunker airplane back to the end of the runway to give it another go.  Not me, I've had enough.  No way am I getting back aboard that crate.  No refund either, and I paid an extra fee for the carry-on too! 

I ended up taking the train home.

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OK, I'll make up for all the long stories with two short, but sweet and boring ones. :D

#1 - Used to fly in DeHavilland Dash-7s some, and man, those things were rough in turbulence!  Like riding a roller coaster with some of those wicked drops!  The turboprop seemed very anachronistic to me eben back i the stone-age in the 80s. :D

#2 - I have a very fond memory of hanging out in the Holiday Inn bar in South Attleboro, MA waiting out a blizzard delay.  A blizzard party, sort of like a hurricane party.  That's it!   

(Wow, 2Far was a category-buster with this one. :) )

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