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Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome aboard. Our cruisin' altitude for this flight will be 37,000'. If there is anything that the crew can do to make this trip more enjoyable, please do not hesitate to ask. For now, please sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. |
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Wackiest Trip |
| Trip Log Main | |||||||||
| May 11, 2001; Submitted by John D. Green Chicago, Illinois (ORD) | |||||||||
| I was travelling From Chicago, through St. Louis, Missouri (STL) to Los Angeles, California (LAX)to see a band from Austria that I am friends with. When I was seated on the TWA B767 in St Louis, by complete chance, I was seated next to one of the members of the band I was going to see. We had a comfortable flight, and subsequently a lovely time in Los Angeles. I have flown over a million miles and more than 10,000 hours. I have been to 43 U.S. States, Canada, Mexico, and 13 European and Middle Eastern countries. In that time I have only bought 3 tickets, on comercial airlines. My mom and dad work for TWA, my father-in-law works for US Airways (US), and I work for United Airlines (UA). The other 3 tickets were bought on Southwest Airlines (WN) out of desperation. I have flown on the Lockheed L-1011, Boeing 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, Airbus 319 and 320, MD80, DC-9, DC-10, a few commuter aircraft, and several Cessnas. I have always enjoyed the high altitude views, and hated the food. | |||||||||
| April 15, 2001; Submitted by Christopher Mitchell Somers, New York (LGA, JFK, EWR) | |||||||||
| In July of 1998 I decided to return to Bermuda (BDA), where I had gone one year before for a nice vacation. I was going the same week of the year to the same hotel taking the same flights. I was flying US Airways (US) (only because it is easiest to fly to Bermuda from New York on them and because United Airlines (UA) does not fly there) and arrived at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) about two hours before the flight, accurately expecting a large crowd. The flight was, as is common at LGA, delayed for a technical reason. Finally, boarding was announced and I went to my seat. I discovered that my inept travel agent had put me in the second to last row of the completely full Boeing 737. Finally, after about 45 minutes of taxiing, we took off. Leaving LGA we headed straight out towards the Atlantic and crossed the coast somewhere between New Jersey and Staten Island. After about 8 minutes of flying over the ocean, the pilot came on the PA, and stated, "Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. Uhhh- you may have noticed that the aircraft is not going to go." By complaining, US Airways sent my whole family the next day and arranged for us to return a day later and sent us all First class. It was nice, but United's Economy class is nicer than US Airways' First class. | |||||||||
| April 8, 2001; Submitted by Chris Ditto Houston, Texas (IAH) | |||||||||
| Had to get off of Continental Airlines' (CO) flight 1 to Honolulu. I got a $2,000 voucher. They told me the next flight was in 3 hours. I got on the flight they told me to and it was to Gatwick! What an experience. | |||||||||
| February 20, 2001; Submitted by Donald Richard Tucscon, Arizona (LAX) | |||||||||
| A Chartered flight from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (DHA) to Naples, Italy (NAP) on a World Airways (WO) DC-10-30. Despite a full load of passengers and baggage, the pilots executed a max-performance take-off as an anti-terrorist measure. Immediately after becoming airborne, passengers clapped in excitement and relief from leaving Saudi Arabia but, as the aircraft's angle of ascent increased to what seemed almost straight up, everything got quiet. | |||||||||
| October 28, 2000; Submitted by Elton Parks Ester, Alaska (FAI) | |||||||||
| Back in 1984, to promote the fact that they were the only airline to fly their own aircraft into each of the fifty states, United Airlines (UA) offered their Mileage Plus members a chance to earn free First Class travel anywhere within the 50 states for one year back by flying into or out of each of the fifty states in a set fifty day period. I was one of 68 people that did just that. During my year of free First Class travel, I flew 524,000 miles. I have flown all of UA's DC-8-71s, all but one of the Boeing 727-200s in their fleet and most of their other aircraft. Also flew over 100,000 miles in three weeks on an Eastern Airlines IEA) Unlimited Mileage fare back in 1980. Have logged over 1,000 flights and 1,000,000 miles in First and Business class alone. | |||||||||
| October 27, 2000; Submitted by Michael Coldesina Clayton, New Jersey (PHL) | |||||||||
| I was working for
Air Jamaica (JM) at the time of this trip. This trip was flown entirely
on free passes. I took the trip with a colleague and it was somewhat of
a pilgrimage to Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport (HKG) before it closed the following
year. 10/13/97 United Airlines (UA) 1572 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL) to Chicago, Illinois (ORD) Boeing 737-200 10/14/97 Korean Airlines (KE) 036 ORD to Soeul, Korea (SEL) Boeing 747-400(2:10AM DEP.) 10/16/97 KE 605 SEL to Hong Kong, China (HKG) Airbus A330 10/18/97 Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) 251 HKG to London Heathrow (LHR) Boeing 747-400 10/19/97 British Airways (BA) 299 LHR to ORD Boeing 747-200 10/19/97 UA 1122 ORD to Allentown-Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (ABE) Boeing 737-200 After 6 hours trying to catch a flight from ORD to PHL, I took a flight to ABE. From start to finish, I was away 144 hours, of which approximately 45 of them were spent in an airplane. It was one of the most memorable trips I have taken. I cannot wait to try it again going East. |
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| October 23, 2000; Submitted by Eric Leelasitorn Temple City, California (LAX) | |||||||||
| In March 2000, I
traveled to Sydney from Hong Kong on Ansett Australia airline (AN). The
flight leaves at about 7:30 p.m. The aircraft is an ex-Singapore Airline's
(SQ) Boeing 747-400 (registered VH-ANB), of which they are operating two
of them. The first impression of the aircraft is that it is old and need
some touch up work, the ceiling is so dusty and most seat cloth are hanging
halfway attached.
Shortly after take off we were served an O.K. dinner and then the entertainment program started. They are using the existing system from SQ. Too bad mine is not working. So I have to watch the PTV next to me. (Luckily my friend is next to me). Anyway it is relatively a short flight only eight hours. About a hour and half from landing, we were given the super tiny portion breakfast. Which consist of a slice of grapefruit, melon and apple, a muffin and yogurt. After landing and upon clearing the immigration counter and custom we went straight ahead to a restaurant. The overall of that trip is O.K. and I had a chance to talk to the purser of that flight and finding out that they had a lot of their equipment as well as PTV. Somehow I know they are trying to be nice but due to the nature that they had only two 747 and they flying from Sydney (SYD) to Osaka (KIX) daily and Hong Kong (HKG) five times a week with that kind of utilization, I bet they don't have much time left for maintenance. Anyway five days later we step on our flight back to Hong Kong, this time it was another Boeing 747-400 (VH-ANA) also an ex-SQ plane, the condition of the plane is more or less the same as the last time. With past experience, I brought own food this time and my PTV was working. However, the guy in front of me was not so lucky at the time of taking off, as the plane left the ground there is some brownish water dripping some the ceiling. That is the whole story, other than that the overall trip is wonderful. We visited Sydney and the city is neat and people there are surprisingly friendly. Before we for the trip, we had heard many negative comments of Australian being mean to Orientals, partly because of a large number of Chinese immigrants landed on the island in the '80s and that is when the conflicts started. I am planning my next vacation in 2001 and one of the destination in my mind is Cairns (CNS), where the Great Barrier Reef is located. Hopefully Cathay Pacific (CX) has special fares by that time. |
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| October 4, 2000; Submitted by Greg Kania Westboro, Massachusetts (BOS) | |||||||||
| The wackiest trip I was on was from my home in Boston (BOS) to Hong Kong, China (HKG). I flew on United Airlines (UA) from Boston to San Francisco (SFO), and then on to Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok airport. The service on UA was very good from SFO to HKG. and the food was also good. But the interesting part came on the flight back. The trip back began at CLK airport when had a left FMC failure on the flight deck which took at least one hour to fix. We finally took off and had a very bumpy ride out and at times really turbulent ride out over Taiwan. Once we started to get near Japan, about 2.5 hours through the flight my legs started to swell really bad. I thought it was from all the walking and hiking I did in Hong Kong but it was not. The lead flight attendant paged to see if there was a Doctor on board. Luckily, there was one; after the Doctor looked at my leg, he said it was most likely a blood clot. After that they contacted the UA Doctor in Chicago and he recommended that we land in Tokyo so that I could get my legs looked at. After that we dumped 100 tons of fuel and landed in Tokyo all because | |||||||||
| August 7, 2000; Submitted by Jonathan Driscoll Port Talbot, Wales United Kingdom (CWL) | |||||||||
| When we were flying to Turkey [on Turkish-owned airline Sunways] the captain switched the seatbelt sign on due to turbulence. When they subsided he switched the sign off. A few minutes later the aircraft [MD-90] suddenly bumped up and the service trolley went flying down the aisle because the brake was not on. When the plane bounced nobody had their seatbelts on so we nearly hit the roof .That was a flight I'd never forget. | |||||||||
| August 3, 2000; Submitted by Michael Kinghorn, Reading Berkshire United Kingdom (LGW) | |||||||||
| I have not had a wacky trip, all flights are part of a package holiday deal. Airtours is great, nice cabin crew and tasty food for a four-hour flight from London Gatwick (LGW) to Heraklion in Crete. Monarch is for me a tacky airline that should have given up ages ago, rude crew and yucky food, boo! | |||||||||
| July 27, 2000; Submitted by Alex Mandus, Dunwoody, Georgia USA (ATL) | |||||||||
| Atlanta, Georgia
(ATL) to Kona, Hawaii Departed Atlanta at 8:00 am aboard a United Airlines Airbus A319. Excellent service, perhaps the best I have ever had. I arrived in San Francisco, California (SFO) at 10:00 am. I then went to the Wharf for lunch, when I got back I found out that our Boeing 747 was delayed in Chicago, O'Hare (ORD). We ended up being delayed 6 hours. We finally left SFO at 9:30 pm on a United Boeing 747-238B. While aboard, I had to deal with a careless European tourist that decided she was going to treat her coach seat like it was a bed and kick the seats in front of her without any consideration (also smacked the guy behind her with her seatback). I finally arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL), exhausted at close to midnight. The next day, we departed HNL at 11:40 on an Aloha Airlines (AQ) Boeing 737-200 for Kona, arriving at 12:15 p.m. Five days later. On our return from Kona to Atlanta on United. The first leg was Kona - HNL on Aloha at about 9 am. We arrived in HNL at 9:45 a.m., then departed for Los Angeles, California (LAX) at 12:45 p.m. on a UA Boeing 767-300. Great flight, except for a kid way in the back that enjoyed screaming his head off the whole way. On that topic, we arrived at the extremely-congested LAX at 9:20 p.m. and had to endure the horrific screaming of a kid boarding a flight to Guatemala (GUA). These screams were not of this Earth, and I swore I could still hear those screams as both our planes departed the terminal. To my extreme disappointment, they switched our Boeing 767 to ORD with one of those sardine can Boeing 757s. We departed LAX at 11:30 p.m., arriving after flying through a thunderstorm at ORD at 5:00 am. We then boarded an Airbus A319 an hour later and flew back to Atlanta, arriving at 9:20 a.m. Airlines: United (A319, 747, 767, 757), Aloha (737) Airports: ATL, SFO, HNL, Kona, LAX, ORD Best parts: My first flight on a Boeing 747, the best service since pre-Ron Allen DL, two great flights on Aloha, and flight crews with actual personality. Worst parts: 6-hour delay in SFO, the European woman, the two screaming kids, and the Boeing 757. |
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| June 21, 2000; Submitted by Aaron Rajanen, North Charleston, South Carolina USA (CHS) | |||||||||
| We arrived at Charleston, South Carolina (CHS) to check in for our Delta Air Lines (DL) flight from CHS to Atlanta, Georgia (ATL) and then to Albuquerque, New Mexico (ABQ). We were told that our CHS to ATL flight was canceled. They put us on a US Airways (US) flight to Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT) then an America Airlines (AA) flight to Dallas/ Forth Worth (DFW) then to ABQ. Our flight to CLT got diverted to Columbia, South Carolina (CAE). The airport in CLT was closed. Then they put us back on Delta to ATL then on a 1:45 a.m. flight to ABQ. We got to ABQ at 5:00 a.m. ABQ time. Overall it took 15 hours. Then on the return our ABQ to ATL flight was fine but the ATL to CHS portion was canceled. All we got out of the whole trip in terms of compensation, was a first class upgrade from ATL to CHS on the next flight which is only 45 minutes long. | |||||||||
| June 6, 2000; Submitted by Nick Downs, Woodstock, Georgia USA (ATL) | |||||||||
| Atlanta, Georgia
(ATL) - Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) (Delta Air Lines (DL) MD-11) FRA - Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) (Thai Airways (TG) B747-400) BKK - Phnom Penh, Cambodia (PNH) (TG B737-400) PNH - BKK (TG 737-400) BKK - Tokyo Narita, Japan (NRT) (Japan Air Lines (JL) B747-200) BKK - ATL (JL B747-400) My wife and I flew to Phnom Penh Cambodia from ATL to adopt our daughter in May of 1998. We wanted to go around the world. Well we have and we won't do that again. |
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| May 14, 2000; Submitted by Jeff Bomar, Burbank, California USA (BUR) | |||||||||
| Burbank, California (BUR) to Detroit City Airport, Detroit Michigan via Phoenix, Arizona (PHX), Kansas City, Missouri (MCI) and Chicago Midway, Illinois (MDW) before landing in Detroit. I traveled on Southwest Airlines (WN) low fares but what a hassle. | |||||||||
| April 25, 2000; Submitted by Anne Smith, Palmyra, New Jersey USA (PHL) | |||||||||
| Until this winter,
I dreaded the thought of having to fly. I hated it although I had
to do it a lot. In March, I decided to cancel my flight to San Diego,
California (SAN) and take a bus. I know what you're thinking... about
2 1/2 hours east of Albuquerque, New Mexico (ABQ), a man boarded the bus
and dropped a suitcase on my head as he tried to put it in the overhead
carrier. An ambulance met the bus in ABQ and I went to the hospital
with a concussion.
From the hospital, I hopped in a cab and went straight to the airport. I got a flight on United Airlines (UA), which was boarding so I had to run up to the gate. I hadn't showered in 3 days and had hospital bracelets on my wrist, and don't forget the concussion. I even started crying at the reservation counter. The agent thought I was crazy. I had no idea where the flight was going, but I knew I was ticketed to San Diego. Once on the plane, I asked the man next to me where our flight was headed. He gave me the strangest look as I saw him glancing at my wrist. It was 6 a.m. on a Monday morning and so lib... |
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| April 23, 2000; Submitted by Carole Lowe, Onley Virginia USA (SBY) | |||||||||
| I flew Salisbury,
Maryland (SBY) to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL) on a US Airways
(US) Dash 8 then PHL to London Gatwick (LGW) on a US B767 then LGW
to Rotterdam, The Netherlands (RTM) on a British Airways City Hopper ATR42.
I returned on the same routing. They were great flights - about 10 hours total flying time in each direction. The part that amazed me was the segment from London to Rotterdam has a snack and a meal service --- and the flight is just about 50 minutes! The two British Airways flight attendants were really hustling to serve the full aircraft. First, beverages and pretzels. As soon as the service was cleaned up they came through with lunch service - you even got a choice of sandwiches! Next was beverage service. Last but not least coffee or tea! Trash was collected as we descended into the arrival city. The same service was offered in both directions. In addition, the flight attendants came through selling duty free and offering customs declarations. |
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| April 16, 2000; Submitted by Kurt Fink, Epstein Hesse, Germany (FRA) | |||||||||
| I have been on many
overseas trips with multi sector flying, especially to the US/ Canada and
Far East/ Australia. But the "wackiest" was in 1985 with the following
routing : Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) to Delhi, India (DEL) to Hong Kong, China (HKG) to Melbourne, Australia (MEL) to Sydney, Australia (SYD) to Perth, Australia (PER) to Mauritius (MRU) to Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB) to Durban, South Africa (DUR) to JNB to Mahe islands, Seychelles Islands (SEZ) to Colombo, Sri Lanka (CMB) to HKG to DEL to FRA. That covered 4 continents and three islands. Luckily it was in First Class, which back then was similar to today's Business Class. |
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| April 15, 2000; Submitted by David Gashler, Samara Russia (CWA) | |||||||||
| Once I was on a Tupolev 154 of Samara Airlines (E5) and a drunk guy was standing next to me in the second to last row and all of the sudden he threw up from where I was standing to the back of the plane it was loud and gross! | |||||||||
| February 14, 2000; Submitted by Jonathan Fox, Fond du Lac Wisconsin USA (MKE) | |||||||||
| I flew home from
visiting a friend who works for United Express. He worked for Great Lakes
in Cheyenne at the time and he routed me home to Appleton, Wisconsin like
this: CYS-DEN United Express/Great Lakes B1900D DEN-ORD United A320 ORD-MSN United Express/Air Wisconsin BAe 146-200 MSN-ATW United Express/Air Wisconsin CRJ Regional Jet It was a long day but fun nonetheless! I would do it again in a heartbeat!! |
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| January 8, 2000; Submitted by Mark McCary, North Carolina USA | |||||||||
| On August 29, 1970
I took a Pan Am Boeing 720B from Viracopos, Brazil (SAO) to Brasilia,
Brazil (RIO) (we had two flat tires here) then to Panama City, Panama (PTY)
- here there was some confusion over which plane to continue on to Guatemala
City, Guatemala (GUA) then to Mexico City, Mexico (MEX), then finally to
Houston, Texas (IAH) arriving on time at 11:59 p.m. I was the
only passenger originating at SAO and disembarking in IAH. There were
4 meals served and the entire trip lasted almost 19 hours. Also, in January of 1961 I flew on a Comet 4C on BOAC form Lufthansa (LHR) to Frankfurt (FRA) then to Cairo, Egypt (CAI) then, we were supposed to go to Baghdad but due to fog landed at Basra (BOM) (this was the first full jet to land there; we were served hot Cokes). |
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| January 1, 2000; Submitted by David Keys, Crumlin, United Kingdom (BFS) | |||||||||
| Once traveled for
28 hours to get from Tokyo to Hamburg (Germany)! Flew from Tokyo, Japan (NRT) to Beijing, China (PEK) with Air China, then from Beijing to Shanghai, China (SHA) with China South West, then from Shanghai to Dubai with Emirates then Dubai, UAE (DXB) to Tel Aviv, Israel (TLV) with El Al (LY), then from Tel Aviv to London with El AL, then London to Oslo (OSL) with SAS (SK) then Oslo to Hamburg, Germany (HAM) with SAS! |
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| December 12, 1999; Submitted by Simon Hemsworth, Jacksonville Florida USA (JAX or LHR) | |||||||||
| We were 6 hours late
departing Walvis Bay, Namibia (WVB) to Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB)
(2 hours), for the 13 hour-flight to London (Heathrow), England (LHR). I had a 5 hour lay-over in LHR, however, I was delayed departing to Chicago O'Hare USA (ORD) for the 8.5 hours. This caused me to miss the last connecting flight to Jacksonville, Florida USA (JAX). I was put up in a not so good hotel by the airline I was traveling on. Sadly, I was awaken by the fire alarm going off at 4 a.m. The flight from Chicago to Jacksonville the next day lasted 2.5 hours. Arrived eventually after 2 days traveling and over 10,000 miles to be told I'd have to go back in a weeks time! This all occurred during November 6, 7 & 8 1999. |
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| September 17, 1999; Submitted by Thomas Fread, Sauk Rapids Minnesota USA (MSP) | |||||||||
| One trip was on the way home from Las Vegas, Nevada USA (LAS). They could not fuel the airplane up with enough fuel to make it back into Minneapolis, Minnesota USA (MSP) so we hand to Land in Salt Lake City, Utah USA (SLC). The pilot said we would have enough fuel, but we did not. It was the roughest flight I had ever been on! | |||||||||
| September 14, 1999; Submitted by Toby Davis, Selbridge Kildare Ireland (DUB) | |||||||||
| In December 95 I took a business trip to Russia. We were supposed to be driven to Veronezh and Orel but due to weather a Orel A Yak 40 was chartered for a routing Vnukova-Veronezh-Orel-Veronezh. On the flightdeck there was a crew of 4 crammed in. They were very happy to show us around. | |||||||||
| September 04, 1999; Submitted by Thornton Shepherd, Belmont Massachusetts (BOS) | |||||||||
| I belong to
a wonderful group called "Sharing A New Song." We are a
cultural exchange group that uses music to cross, national, international,
ethnic, racial, cultural and economic barriers. This year, our "sharing"
trip took us to South Africa. American Airlines (AA) took us to Miami
(MIA) where we stayed overnight before catching the South African Airways
(SA) flight to Cape Town (CPT). American, to my surprise, showed a
movie on the flight and also served a lovely dinner. Nice to see that
service is BACK! However, SAA takes the cake for best airline on this trip. I loved their service, I loved their staff and I loved their aircraft! If you haven't seen their new livery, go look it up on http://www.airliners.net. Strikingly beautiful indeed. The flight to Cape Town took 13 hours and 40 minutes; long but not unbearable thanks to the comfy seats in coach. We saw good movies and the food was delicious. The approach to Cape Town is spectacular. It is one of the nicest that I have ever seen. It is well worth putting up with the window seat trauma during the flight (excuse me, I need to go potty, etc.) to see this view. Once in Cape Town, our sharing began. We sang everywhere and with anyone who would listen. We even sang in the Customs Hall of the airport! Anyway... we bussed it up and down the Garden route and stayed in some unbelievably beautiful areas (Reines Nature Reserve and The Drakensburg Mountains are just two). We met cool people, we saw the promise of the country and we saw the challenges. We flew a domestic leg with SAA from Port Elizabeth to Durban. Once again, impressive! The Captain even went off his normal course to give "our special friends from abroad" a unique view of Durban Harbor. Then, 17 days later, we ended our journey in Pretoria and Johannesburg (JNB). We even toured the infamous township of Soweto. Quite surprisingly, I found it... charming. Anyway, SAA could not accommodate all of us on one flight so some folks returned home JNB-SAL-JFK-BOS and some went JNB-CPT-MIA-BOS. Again the service and the staff were excellent. Bravo SAA!!! I have not said a lot about our activities in the country because they were so numerous and wonderful that it's tough to choose only a few to elaborate on. If you want to know more, please e-mail Cruisinaltitude.com (mskonfa@yahoo.com) and they will forward the emails. |
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| August 29, 1999; Submitted by Ian Dally, Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) | |||||||||
| While on leave from South America in Australia, I was asked to attend a course in Germany. I was told I could fly direct, just over 10,000 miles, but it was cheaper to return to Paraguay and, besides, I needed to pick up some winter woollies to wear! So I flew back Melbourne (MEL) - Sydney (SYD) - Auckland (AKL) - Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE) - Asuncion, Paraguay (ASU) (36 hours here) - Buenos Aires - Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS) - Frankfurt, Germany (FRA), a distance of nearly 17,000 miles. My colleagues thought I was mad, but it was in Business Class, so I didn't arrive too shattered. | |||||||||
| August 28, 1999; Submitted by Steve Bennett, West Midlands United Kingdom () | |||||||||
| I am a regular visitor to Spain (4 or 5 times a year). The flight from the UK normally takes about two and a half hours: a short uneventful hop. We recently flew from London Gatwick (LGW), not the prettiest of places on a good day. However, on the day we traveled chaos reigned supreme above the clouds and our flight was delayed for about 10 hours. Little did we know that another flight (to a different airport in Spain operated by the same carrier) was also delayed. The carrier eventually decided to load everyone aboard a L-1011 and run the equivalent of a bus service around the Meditteranean! Firstly we flew down to Malaga, Spain (AGP) and some people disembarked. We waited on the ground for about 4 hours before resuming our flight-a short 25-minute segment up the coast to Alicante (ALC). In total the time from check-in to baggage reclaim was about 14 hours!! None of this spoiled the pleasure of viewing a sizeable proportion of Eastern Spanish Coastline from a Height of about 4,000ft at around sundown. | |||||||||
| August 24, 1999; Submitted by Tony DeFalco, Austin Texas USA (AUS) | |||||||||
| On my last trip to Belize, (from George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) on Continental Airlines (CO)) upon arriving at Phillip S.W. Goldson International, Belize (BZE) and clearing customs I watched planes from the Waving Deck then upon boarding my Mayan Airways flight south to Dangriga, Belize my bags were put in a Norman Islander (2 engines) and all of us were in a Cessna Caravan (single engine), bolts were literally shaking out of the wing struts. Upon landing at the Dangriga strip, then waiting for the bags to land, we went into the little building by the dirt strip (i.e. terminal) and had a coke before trekking into the jungle. | |||||||||
| August 23, 1999; Submitted by Ray Harvey, Bisbee Arizona USA (FHU) | |||||||||
| Two days prior to taking my instrument checkride, I realized that I was 10 hours short on cross country flight time. The next day, I departed Livermore, California (LVK) on a daylong journey down the California central valley. I flew a Cessna 152 from LVK to Sacramento, California (SMF), then Bakersfield, California (BFL), Bakersfield Airpark (fuel stop- no Unocal 76 at BFL), Palmdale/William J. Fox (PMD), Mohave (MHV), Visalia (VIS), Fresno (FAT), Stockton (SCK), and finally back to LVK, where I had to do 5 or 6 touch and goes to make it officially 10 hours. Had a blast- and many pictures, too- and looking back after 5 years flying similar schedules with a commuter airline think I must have been crazy! Since then I've flown extensively all over the USA, and soon will be traveling worldwide as a pilot for Gemini Air Cargo. And I've had a blast all the way! | |||||||||
| August 22, 1999; Submitted by Stephen Katsurinis, Alexandria, Virginia USA (IAD/ DCA) | |||||||||
| I traveled from Washington, D.C. (DCA) to Los Angeles (LAX) on American Airlines (AA) via Dallas Forth Worth, Dallas Texas (DFW) then on to Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL) the next morning. Then, the following day from HNL to Kona, Hawaii (KOA). Three days later from Kona to Maui, Honolulu (OGG). Then one day later, Maui - HNL - LAX. The next morning LAX - DCA via Chicago International, Chicago Illinois (ORD). Then two days later, DCA - DFW - San Francisco (SFO) - Taipei, Taiwan (TPE). | |||||||||
| August 14, 1999; Submitted by John Fitzpatrick, St. Helier UK Channel Islands (JER/ DUB) | |||||||||
| Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) had a special deal in 1997 on a round trip fare to either Australia or New Zealand (I went to Auckland, New Zealand (AKL)), PLUS two free side trips to various destinations; I chose Seoul, Korea (SEL) and Taipei, Taiwan (TPE). Old Kai Tak International (HKG) was still open and Cathay being Cathay, I knew I'd be able to get jump seats. My first ever 777 flight was from Seoul to Hong Kong, via Taipei. The Cathay people very kindly called me, telling me there was a non-stop flight if I wanted; No - I was perfectly happy with this one. Getting the jump seat on my first 777 flight was one thing - but getting into dear old Kai Tak, that was an experience I will never forget. Also got it on the Boeing 747-400. Korea was great - I even tried Korean Air (KE) - and they were fine, but Cathay, nothing compares to it. | |||||||||
| August 4, 1999; Submitted by Ilya Yanovskiy, Brooklyn, New York (JFK) | |||||||||
| I was flying once from Almaty, Kazakhstan to Moscow and then to John F. Kennedy, New York USA (JFK), so we boarded a TransAero Boeing 757-200 flight to Moscow (SVO). In Moscow we then boarded a Delta Air Lines (DL) flight to JFK. The first 3 hours of the flight was uneventful, then for some reason, we had to have an emergency landing in Shannon, Ireland (SNN). Everyone was scared. We were on the ground in SNN for 18 hours. Once we took off, about an hour into the flight, we had another emergency landing in Reyjavik, Iceland. Again, we were all scarred. Once the problem was fixed, we headed for JFK. For some reason, we did not get permission to land in JFL so we had to finally land in Newark, New Jersey USA (EWR). This whole trip took 2 days! | |||||||||
| July 20, 1999; Submitted by Vicente Seppi Bresolin, Porto Alegre Brazil (POA) | |||||||||
| Airlines: Varig (RG);
VASP (VP); Trans Brasil (TR); Aerolineas Argentinas (AR); American Trans
Air (TZ) Airliners: Airbus A300; Lockheed L-1011; Boeing 737-200; Boeing 737-300; Boeing 747-200; Boeing 747-300; Boeing 767-200; Boeing DC-10; Boeing MD-11 Airports: POA; Florianopolis (FLN); Guarulhos, Sao Paulo (GRU); Campinas (CPQ); Rio De Janeiro (GIG); Grantley Adams, Barbados (BGI); Orlando, Florida USA (MCO); Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (LAX); Ministro Pistarini, Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE); Eduardo Gomes, Manaus, Brazil (MAO) Best flight: POA-EZE, AR 742; GRU-POA, VP 733 Best service: GRU-LAX, RG 743 Best landing: GRU (RG 743; VP AB3); LAX (RG 743) Best approach: stormy POA, from EZE, AR 742 Worst flight: none Worst service: EZE-POA, AR 742 Worst landing: GIG, RG M11; FLN, VP 732 Worst approach: stormy BGI, from MCO, TZ L-1011 |
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| July 14, 1999; Submitted by Jeff Lane, Saline, Michigan USA (DTW) | |||||||||
| My brother and I have taken several pointless flights. All flights we took were just for the sake of flying. We flew to Phoenix Sky Harbor, Phoenix Arizona USA (PHX), stayed for 1 and a half hours, then flew back to Detroit Metro Wayne, Detroit Michigan USA (DTW). We did the same on trips to Anchorage, Alaska USA (ANC), Dallas Forth Worth, Dallas, Texas USA (DFW), St. Louis Lambert Field, St. Louis Missouri USA (STL), and Los Angeles International, Los Angeles California USA (LAX). All flights originated from DTW on Northwest Airlines, and the longest we've ever stayed was over night. | |||||||||
| June 23, 1999; Submitted by Kevin Shop, Upper Arlington, Ohio USA (CMH) | |||||||||
| Since I am a Non-rev
(works for an airline) and flies all the time on Cactus (America West Airlines
- HP). I fly when there is space available on the airplane. On Monday,
June 21, 1999, a group of us decided to go to Las Vegas (LAS). All of the flights West from Columbus, Ohio (CMH) were full, so we went 400 + miles East to Newark, New Jersey (EWR) on CACTUS 2070, then used the same airplane to go 2,100 + miles West to Phoenix, Arizona (PHX), then caught the last 2 seats on a flight from PHX to Las Vegas, Nevada (LAS). Our return flight was rather boring. Just a non-stop 1,700+ mile flight in the middle of the night. Be safe everyone. |
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| May 24, 1999; Submitted by Mickey Kopanksi, Palatine, Illinois USA (ORD) | |||||||||
| Flew round-the-world
non-stop. Here is the routing:
Chicago, Illinois USA (ORD) - Washington Dulles, Sterling, Virgina (IAD) - London, Heathrow (LHR) - Delhi, India (DEL) - Hong Kong, China (HKG) - Los Angeles, California USA - (LAX) -Las Vegas (LAS) - Chicago, Illinois (ORD), all in a weekend on my days off! |
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| May 12, 1999; Submitted by Alex Heiter, Houston, Texas USA (IAH) | |||||||||
| A 15-hour Hong Kong (HKG) - Minneapolis (MSP) flight on Northwest Airlines' (NW) in coach class. There were four (4) movies shown, and the flight was full of sick orphan infants who all cried for the entire flight. Probably the most grueling experience of my life. | |||||||||
| May 07, 1999; Submitted by Brandon Rettke, Kankakee, Illinois USA (MDW) | |||||||||
| I was stuck next to an unpleasant man who never got up | |||||||||
| May 08, 1999; Submitted by Ronald Aker Slootdorp, Netherlands (AMS) | |||||||||
| 1st.
With a few colleagues I wanted to fly 'Around
the World' in the shortest possible time, given the regular airline-schedules
out of Amsterdam, Netherlands. We made it eventually in total 40hrs
and 18min, but a small delay (technical) prevented us from doing it in
a possible 39hrs 35min. Route as follows: 2nd. Flying on a B747-200 Freighter in a cockpit jumpseat from Amsterdam to Rickenbacker, Ohio USA (LCK), and returning after unloading and loading, with the same plane back to Amsterdam. 17 hrs total in one trip with 4 hours ground time at LCK. 3rd. Flying Amsterdam to Malmo, Sweden on a Cargo Lockheed Electra (Fred Olson), and flying from Amsterdam to Linz on a S.A.T.Lockheed Hercules freighter... |
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| May 07, 1999; Submitted by Brandon Rettke, Kankakee, Illinois (MDW) | |||||||||
| I was stuck next to an unpleasant man who never got up | |||||||||
| April 09, 1999; Submitted by Betts Powell, Greensboro, North Carolina USA (GSO) | |||||||||
| Here is a most recent
trip:
March 10, 1999 Greensboro, North Carolina
3:20 p.m. to Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT) 3:45 p.m. on US Airways (US) |
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| March 11, 1999; Submitted by Tyler Munoz, Brookline, Massachusettes USA (BOS) | |||||||||
| Flew from Corfu to Athens, Greece (ATH) on a Boeing 737-200 (non-advanced) | |||||||||
| February 18, 1999; Submitted by Stephen Oliveri, Providence, Rhode Island USA (MSY) | |||||||||
| In 1997, I flew
New Orleans, Louisiana (MSY) to Memphis,
Tennessee (MEM) (NW, DC9-50), That was a pretty crazy trip...I did it all in the space of a little more than 2 days...I did it just to fly Pan Am. A close runner up..perhaps even more crazy...is when I visited Europe in 1998...here was our routing: MSY - Denver, Colorado (DEN) (UA, B727-200), On the way back, it was a simple single connection in IAD FRA-IAD (UA, B777-200), |
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| January 6, 1999; Submitted by Sri Rao, Downers Grove, Illinois USA (ORD) | |||||||||
| Domestic travel in
India. I visited Bombay (BOM), Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. I've
come to realize that civil aviation standards in India are almost non-existent!
The people I dealt with had absolutely no concept of customer service.
I even witnessed a passenger board the wrong plane and realize this while
airborne. Also, 6 hour delays were not at all out of the ordinary.
Much more to tell, but that's about the gist of my experience.
(Editor's Note: This experiences shared by the author happens frequently in any country, not just the one stated here) |
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| December 29, 1998; Submitted by Alton Lanier, Arlington Tennessee USA | |||||||||
| The wackiest trip
I ever had was not on an airline, but the USAF. I was stationed at
Norton AFB, San Bernardino, California and decided to take hops home to
Kentucky for Christmas 1968. I got a C-141 from Norton AFB to Tinker AFB,
Oklahoma. There were no flights listed on the board at Tinker to any
Air Force location near my home town so I opted for a Tinker AFB to Scott
AFB, Illinois hop, on another C-141. Made it OK.
At Scott there was nothing showing, but a mechanic said he had a B-52 going over to Wright-Patterson AFB at Dayton, Ohio. With all kinds of survival gear (this is December and I am wearing our year around at Norton summer uniform) I get a ride on the B-52 which gets diverted and ends up in Upper Michigan outside Sault Saint Marie (the Soo), Michigan at 5 degrees below. By the stroke of luck they have a C-141 which is going to Wright-Patterson. I get to Wright-Pat, catch the bus to downtown Cincinnati, and catch the Southern railway passenger train for the 181 mile train ride to Somerset, Kentucky, my hometown. After Christmas, my dad bought me an airline ticket (50% military standby) to get back - Louisville on Eastern to St. Louis and then TWA to LAX. Everything went smooth. |
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| December 16, 1998; Submitted by Ryan MCGrath, Plano, Texas USA | |||||||||
| I flew San Juan, Puerto
Rico (SJU) to Saint Lucia (SLU) and had an aborted take-off.
Airports visited include: DFW; DAL; DIA (DEN); ORD; LGA; MIA; EWR; FLL; PBI; STT; SJU; ISP; SLU; PIT; CLT; DAB; IAD; NRT |
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| December 07, 1998; Submitted by Claus Goerny , Norwich, Norfolk UK | |||||||||
| I have flown on more
than 50 different types of aircraft including Dassault Mercure (Air Inter);
IL-86; TU-134; TU-154, DH-6/7/8-100/-300 F-27/28-1000-4000;F-50;F-70; F-100;
Saab 340 and 2000 ;Do228-200 (Hamburg Airlines) Shorts 360; BN Trislander;
Airbus A300B4; A300-600; A319/320/321; A310-200/-300; DC 9-30/-50; MD80/87/11;
Boeing 747-400; B373-200/-300/-400/-500 B757; B767-300; B727-200.
Airports visited include: EDI; LHR; LCY; LGW; STN; LBA; DUB; JER; GCI; HAM; BRE; HAJ; FDH; FMO; AGB; AGP; MLN; MAD; BCN; LIS; SVO; LED; KBP; HEL; GOT; RIX; CPH; BUD; VIE; ZRH; BSL; SXB; CDG; ORY; SZG; IST; AYT; BRU; AMS; ACH; PEK; JFK; LAX; SFO; LAS |
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| November 13, 1998; Submitted by Paul Brundagge , Nutley New Jersey USA (EWR) | |||||||||
| Pan Am B747 John F.
Kennedy, Jamaica Queebs, NY (JFK) - Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB) (1984,
Summer) Refueled on the way home in Monrovia. Their Air Traffic Control would not let us get up out of a storm and kept us in the 22,000 range. Citing Apartheid Issues. Our Pilot told them that if they didn't let us get to Cruising Altitude he would land in Bermuda and they'd have to pay to fill the Jumbo. When they asked how much that might be and the captain told them, we were cleared for a higher altitude and non-stop trip home. |
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| November 4, 1998; Submitted by Jan Gram Andersen, Skagen Denmark (CPH) | |||||||||
| This wackiest trip was flown in October 1996. My wife, myself and our two children, aged 11 month and 4 years, was leaving Bali, Indonesia (DPS) on a <airline name deleted> flight bound for Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) via Bangkok, Thailand (BKK). We ordered a bassinet for our youngest son, but when we entered the plane, a MD-11, we were placed in a row without bassinets. My wife and the two children then changed places to a row six rows ahead of me. Schedule departure was delayed two hours, but we were not allowed to leave the airplane. The Captain told us that the stop in Bangkok would been only 30 minutes instead of two hours. But then we again were not allowed to leave the airplane. The flight from Bali to Bangkok took four hours. During takeoff from Bali, 6-8 meters of the roof was falling down. The stop in Bangkok took 2˝ hours. The flight from Bangkok to Frankfurt was 12˝ hours. So we were in the same airplane in 21 hours without leaving it, with two small children and separated by six rows. By the way our connection flight to Copenhagen, Denmark (CPH) had already left Frankfurt by the time we got there. And we also had to reschedule our domestic flight in Denmark. And on top of all that, two of our suitcases were damaged. | |||||||||
| October 6, 1998; Submitted by Kevin Shop, Upper Arlington, Ohio USA (CMH) | |||||||||
| I took a vacation trip on November 26, 1997 from Columbus, Ohio (CMH) to Las Vegas, Nevada (LAS). Since we were flying an "old" Boeing 737-200 and a 100 knot head wind was slowing us down America West Airlines (HP) decided to stop in Kansas City, Missouri (MCI) to get fuel (always a good thing) then on to LAS... so after a 1 hour fuel stop we were back on our way, and what should have taken 5 hours took 6.5. | |||||||||
| October 4, 1998; Submitted by Gabriel Andino, Carbondale, Illinois USA (ORD) | |||||||||
| I once had to fly from San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) to St. Louis Missouri (STL). with a stop in Jacksonville, Florida (JAX). I flew an American Trans Air (TZ) Boeing 727 from San Juan to Orlando, Florida (MCO), then a Comair Brasilia from MCO to JAX. This segment took me about 6 hours. A couple of days later I flew Southwest Airlines (WN) from JAX to STL. First I flew from JAX to Houston Hobby (HOU) with stops in Tampa (TPA) and New Orleans, Louisiana (MSY) and then take a flight from HOU to STL. This segment took me 7 hours to complete. I could have flown Trans World Airlines (TW) nonstop JAX - STL but WN offered me a much better fare, and being the broke college student that I am, I need to go the cheapest way possible. What I liked most about the trip was that I flew on airlines I had not flown before. I also liked WN's service. What I didn't like was the fact that I had to wait for 5 hours in St. Louis for my bags to show up after WN left them in JAX, but that's just a minor hassle since I had to kill some time in STL anyway. All in all a pretty interesting trip. | |||||||||
| October 3, 1998; Submitted by David Mueller Long Beach, California USA (LAX) | |||||||||
| Flew four hours on Delta's (DL) Los Angeles (LAX) - Orlando (MCO) red eye. Then the Comair Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) to Miami (MIA) was having maintenence problems, so I ended up on an Embraer 120 (EM2) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL). My luggage did not arrive in FLL. Took a taxi to my destination in Coral Gables, Florida to make appointment, then back to MIA to inqure about my luggage. One piece was found in FLL, not sure about other. At 9:00 p.m. Delta brings our luggage (both pieces) to the hotel (it had taken a Delta Express flight MCO - FLL), but it took the hotel until 9:30 p.m. to bring it up to our room. Next morning we had 6:00 a.m. flight MIA - Atlanta (ATL)! Then wasn't able to go to sleep until 1:30 a.m. Finally took the Boeing 767 ATL - LAX. Home at last! | |||||||||
| October 2, 1998; Submitted by Khian Chye London England (LHR) | |||||||||
| As a medical student, the wackiest trip has to be last July when departing from Kuala Lumpur (KUL), I was called to see a passenger who became ill on the flight. Fortunately, our British Airways (BA) Boeing 747-436 had yet to depart and my decision to off-load the passenger and his family was made rather easier. I was more than happy to accept thetwo bottles of champagne offered before arrival at London Heathrow (LHR). Here is my complete Trip Log. | |||||||||
| September 30, 1998; Submitted by Randy Elbaz New York, New York USA (JFK) | |||||||||
| I flew the 777. | |||||||||
| September 22, 1998; Submitted by Cyrus Contractor Boonton Township, New Jersey USA (EWR) | |||||||||
The strangest trip
I ever took was in 1994. I was vacationing in Cancun, Mexico (CUN), and
had to make an emergency trip to Bombay, India (BOM). I had no choice but
to take what was available. It was close to Christmas so this was the best
routing I got:
The complete trip required 7 flights, and 51 hours. I have never been through such a variety of cultures in such a short amount of time. It was facinating talking to such a variety of people, and telling them about the trip I was taking. |
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| September 16, 1998; Submitted by Konstantin von Wedelstaedt, Kelsterbach Hessen Germany | |||||||||
| Some years ago LTU
did not fly nonstop from Windhoek, Namibia (WDH) to Munich (MUC), instead,
the flight was Durban, South Africa (DUR) to pick up passengers and Mombasa,
Kenya at night for fuel. The flight left WDH in the morning and arrivedat
MUC the next morning, a 22 hour trip. Yet it was enjoyable to fly all through
Africa, but it was a bit like the old days.
My other experience was departing from Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong China (HKG) on the opening day (July 6, 1998) on Lufthansa LH to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) with all the well-reported chaos and confusion. My baggage arrived three days later... |
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| September 14, 1998; Submitted by Matthew Roberts, Osprey (SRQ), Florida USA | |||||||||
| I was scheduled to fly Sarasota (SRQ) to Manchester (MAN) via Atlanta (ATL), but Delta (DL) cancelled the SRQ-ATL portion. DL could not get us to ATL in time for the MAN flight. DL managed to find a trans-atlantic flight which we would have time to catch. DL put us on US Airways Express (US) flight from SRQ to Orlando (MCO). Then a DL flight form MCO to Frankfurt (FRA). The agent asked if we would catch a bus from FRA-MAN. HA! Then we had to fly FRA to Brussels (BRU) on Lufthansa (LH), then BRU-MAN on Sabena (SN), it took over 24 hours to do something that normally takes 12-14 hours! | |||||||||
| August 26, 1998; Submitted by Duane Ward, Seattle (SEA), WA USA | |||||||||
|
I had just started in a position with American Airlines (AA) requiring international travel. Within one week I was sent on a three day trip to Buenos Aires (BUE). I had a trip to Auckland (AKL)/ Sydney (SYD) scheduled for two days after the end of the BUE trip. We arrived in BUE early a.m., and went to meet our hosts that afternoon. Once we got there, we
discovered that there had been a MAJOR miscommunication, and our hosts
had expected a 1/2 hour conference call instead. We completed our business
that day, two days ahead of schedule. We attempted to get out early, but
this was just as Pan Am (PA) was Seems my boss had had
the forethought to wire ahead and ask them to do what they could for me
considering my likely condition. As follow up, even though the
Kiwis weren't to blame for anything |
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| August 13, 1998; Submitted by Matt Simpson, Painesville (CLE), Ohio USA | |||||||||
| I was going to Las Vegas (LAS) on Vacation. I took the route; Cleveland (CLE) to Cincinnati (CVG) to Los Angeles (LAX) to Las Vegas. A total of 9 hours. We wasted time by going to Los Angeles. We returned home via Salt Lake City (SLC) and CVG. | |||||||||
| August 8, 1998; Submitted by Austin Holt, College Station (CLL), Texas USA | |||||||||
| I was flying from Houston (IAH) to London (LGW). We were flying Northwest and had to connect in Detroit (DTW), (not the most pleasant airport) and the flight from DTW to LGW was delayed. By the time the plane was ready we boarded, we stayed at the gate for 1.5 hours. We had to make a stop in Boston (BOS) for reasons unknown. The rest of the trip was fabulous and coming back wasn't as bad as going. | |||||||||
| June 25, 1998; Submitted by Dick Whiting, Valley Stream (JFK), NY USA | |||||||||
| A 24-hour trip to AKL. Started in John F. Kennedy (JFK) then St. Louis (STL), Witchita (ICT), Amarillo (AMA), Phoenix (PHX), LAX, Honolulu (HNL), Nadi, Fiji (NAN) and finally AKL. Gear problems out of both LAX and HNL on a two-week old Air New Zealand 747-200. Almost returned after each takeoff. The NAN - AKL sector was uneventful. | |||||||||
| May 1, 1998; Submitted by Mark Cutting, Everett (PAE), WA USA | |||||||||
| A few years ago, I
was departing from Boston (BOS) back to college in Daytona Beach (DAB),
FL. This was during the time that the blizzard wiped out all the major
airports in the Northeast. I was on the phone for 3 days trying to get on
a flight as the airlines kept cancelling the flights.
I took a bus to Boston (from Manchester, NH) and went in the airport and the lines went on for ever. I have never seen so many people at an airport! I lucked out and got on a flight from Boston to Orlando. Once there, I called my roommate to pick me up. I was so happy to be out of the bad weather and back at school, even though I ended up missing the first few days of the semester. |
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