aw, shucks. twernt nuttin. ya wanna see some real crosswind component violations, go to Keflavik international in iceland and watch those guys. saw loftlieder pilot damn near scrape the No. one engine off the wing of a B707 one winter day. charter pilots flying in the artic are true artists at landing and takeoffs in heavy cross winds.
I was flying from Lansing, MI to Tampa, FL, and we blew the left engine upon take off. The pilot calmly turned around and landed right back at Lansing. Now I was sitting right on the left wing, and it sounded just like 3 shotgun blasts,right next to my ear, one after another. My wife sitting next to me was scared we were going to die. After disembarking, I spoke with one of the ground crew, who happened to be hanging around the gate. He said that he was a pilot, and flew prop jobs. But he said that those guys who flew the big jets, like we were on, were really good. He stressed that to them, a situation like that one was nothing. I believed him, as I walked past the pilot and he was on his cell phone with his wife, I assume, telling her he would be late, and that she needed to pick up some dry cleaning, etc. I didn't hear a mention of the explosion of the engine,or anything like that. He was calm, and completely at ease.
They had to fly a different plane up from Tampa to fly the people down there. Not me though. My wife refused to go back on a plane that day. We had to fight with the airline but we did get vouchers and went another time. Allegiant Air, for those who might wonder.
aw, shucks. twernt nuttin. ya wanna see some real crosswind component violations, go to Keflavik international in iceland and watch those guys. saw loftlieder pilot damn near scrape the No. one engine off the wing of a B707 one winter day. charter pilots flying in the artic are true artists at landing and takeoffs in heavy cross winds.
ReplyDeleteI was flying from Lansing, MI to Tampa, FL, and we blew the left engine upon take off. The pilot calmly turned around and landed right back at Lansing. Now I was sitting right on the left wing, and it sounded just like 3 shotgun blasts,right next to my ear, one after another. My wife sitting next to me was scared we were going to die.
ReplyDeleteAfter disembarking, I spoke with one of the ground crew, who happened to be hanging around the gate. He said that he was a pilot, and flew prop jobs. But he said that those guys who flew the big jets, like we were on, were really good. He stressed that to them, a situation like that one was nothing.
I believed him, as I walked past the pilot and he was on his cell phone with his wife, I assume, telling her he would be late, and that she needed to pick up some dry cleaning, etc. I didn't hear a mention of the explosion of the engine,or anything like that. He was calm, and completely at ease.
They had to fly a different plane up from Tampa to fly the people down there. Not me though. My wife refused to go back on a plane that day. We had to fight with the airline but we did get vouchers and went another time. Allegiant Air, for those who might wonder.