Thursday, October 25, 2007
Express Jet heart attack!
So I'm leasurely flying back from San Antonio Texas on Express Jet. As we approach the Ontario, CA airport the pilot reports that Southern California is on fire and the Santa Anna winds are gusting up to 80 mph. Having lived with the Santa Annas for some time I have some sense of what we are dealing with. As we come into our first approach to land, about 200 ft. above the ground, the jet begins to jump and jive and twist. The pilot then lifts us back up in the air and we have another go round. The second time the same thing happens. They head off to land in San Diego where we sit in the terminal for two hours. They then announce that the winds haven't changed but we are going to try it again. So we fly back to Ontario (which only takes a few minutes) and try THREE MORE TIMES! On the second try passengers began to scream "we don't need this...go back to San Diego...stop trying." I, of course, was very cool headed except for the blank staring like some sort of Zombie being who is half dead. The whole time I'm saying to myself: the chances that this flight would be one to crash must be astronimical, but the whole time I pictured us somersaulting across the runway, wondering how it would feel to be covered in jet fuel. So, anyone else ever have a harrowing experience on a plane?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
It sounds like this was a good day to be wearing your Depends.
The worst thing that I can recall happening on a plane (besides the food) was deplaning with a stiff neck because I looked out the window the whole time. I love looking out the window.
Me too. There is something almost magical seeing everything from a birds eye view. Especially places that you are familiar with.
I once asked for a bag of peanuts and was given a bag of toenails. Need I say more?
-Eric
p.s. I ate them anyway.
I recall being dropped off from a lovely experience of doing Baptisms for the dead at the L.A. Temple as a young lad to visit David Hansen. He loves to fly and has a two seater plane. Don't know really what the official title is. Rory Ellis, Paul Campbell, Jacob Holt, and myself were there and we were all voluntarily going to fly with Dave Hansen. It was awesome. We lifted off, dive bombed a few times, barrell rolled a few more. Loving every minute until Bro. Hansen says, "now its your turn". What? He talked me into grabbing the joystick sitting between my legs. I firmly grasped it, and could feel the plane jolt and twitch with every slight move of the joystick. This is not so bad. "ok, now do a barrel roll. Just push the stick to one side and follow thru." Feeling pretty confident, I gave it a try. I pushed the stick to the right and we ended upside down. That is when I panicked. I reached for the glass bubble above me as if I was going to fall on it. Apparently, I reached with both hands and we were now upside down but falling at gravities wil. Dave Hansen luckily knew what he was doing and saved us from my mistake. He tried to convince me to do it again. No way was that gonna happen. Fun, Yes! Terrifying, Yes! DAVE
Great story david, Dave Hansen once invited me to fly with him but I had seen his plane in pieces in his garage, which means I will never fly with him. Somehow I want someone I don't know, some mystery perfect guy to assemble the planes I ride in.
I think that was an answer to your previous post. Los Angeles is not the place to be. You were already there in Basketball Zion... San Antonio...
GO SPURS GO
Post a Comment