Almost airline disaster

[Fran Crimi]

That awful plane crash yesterday reminded me of what almost happened to Carol and myself.

We were on the plane, on line to take-off at Newark Airport, on our way to the WPBA Nationals in Miami, when the Captain came on the speaker and announced that we had to pull over to the side because the pilot in the plane behind us noticed that our rear main access door was open. Cripes. We were two planes from take-off. Carol and I looked at each other and said "HOLY S##T."

How does someone forget to close a door on an aircraft??? How come there were no alarms going off in the cockpit? My car tells me when a door is open, but a plane doesn't?

What would have happened if we took off like that?

Fran (glad to still be here.)

[Karatemom]

Hi Fran. Now that's scary. Like it's not bad enough these days that you worry about who's on the plane with you, or if anything will happen in-flight, but you can't even count on the responsibility of the captain and his crew to make sure that the plane is safe? Geez!!!

There were only 2 times things got a little dicey when I was on a plane. The first time was back in 1983. My high school band and colorguard was headed for Phoenix to the Fiesta Bowl. We boarded the plane at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and the weather was real nasty. Bad snowstorm. The wings were iced over so bad. They sprayed that stuff on but by the time they got one wing done, the other was iced up again. It was real bad. We took off anyway, even if all of us on the plane were scared to death that the wings would snap due to the weight! Once we got above the storm we were alright, but don't want to do that again!!!

The other time was when we went down to Vegas in May. We had to fly to Denver first in a small plane. I can't remember what model it was, but it wasn't even close to a Boeing 747. There were maybe enough seats for 50 of us. Anyway, we hit some turbulence that shook everyone. Scared the s*** out of all of us. I've flown in lots of airplanes, from a Cessna to a big old jumbo jet, as my dad was a pilot, but this was the first time I'd ever encountered turbulence like that. I swear we dropped 1000 feet in 2 seconds flat!! Scarey stuff.

I'm awfully glad that that pilot behind you caught your pilot's error in time. I'd hate to think of the consequences if he hadn't.

Heide

[Wally_in_Cincy]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote Fran Crimi:</font><hr>
What would have happened if we took off like that?

<font color="red">You may have felt an unusual breeze [img]/ccboard/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] </font color>

Fran (glad to still be here.)<hr /></blockquote>

My girlfriend flew to NC in May. They were almost to cruising altitude when the plane suddenly dropped about 4000 feet. The passengers never got a good explanation but it was bad enough to cause the airline to give everybody on the plane a free round trip to anywhere. She went to Key west in Oct. [img]/ccboard/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I've been lucky myself. One time coming into Cincy in heavy fog they had the landing gear down and everything, suddenly the pilot pulled up. He came on the speaker and said "Folks, I don't like to land if I can't see the runway"...yikes [img]/ccboard/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

[CarolNYC]

Fran,
Is there EVER a dull moment when we're together?ha ha-from the NY waterways to the soaring skies! - Not only that,as we're going through the metal detectors,I make it through and waiting for Fran,YEP, Fran comes through it, it GOES OFF!They pull her over to side(after yelling something like"STOP FEMALE!)Arms in air, scanned again!Unbelievable!
Carol~LMAO

[eg8r]

I would be a little worried myself Fran. Nice to have you posting again. [img]/ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

When I flew home this Christmas with my wife everything was going fine until we started to taxi out to the runway. Everytime the pilot hit his brakes we heard a loud obnoxious sound coming from outside. All I could think of was " Oh crap, what happens when we try to land and the breaks on this sucker don't work." During our descent the pilot must have been on drugs. [img]/ccboard/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] This crazy man kept slowing down, then speeding up, then slow down, then speed up. I just wanted him to make up his mind. LOL We were getting sick back there. When we landed (the brakes worked fine) I checked the cockpit to make sure there were no little kids up there playing with the pilot. LOL

eg8r

[Wally_in_Cincy]

Anybody, what's the worst airport to fly into? I hear Hong Kong is the world's scariest. Personally, Chicago Midway was kinda scary. It's a postage stamp surrounded by neighborhoods. Come to think it was scary driving thru that neighborhood.

[AndyG]

Wally, The scariest 'airport' I ever flew into was the USS Forrestal. My first carrier landing was at night, and the pilot 'boltered' (missed the hook) the first time around. We caught the 3rd cable the next time, and went from 148 knots to 0 in 3 seconds. I almost wished we'd missed it again. LOL.

I was on board as an Air Force liason officer, and got 4 more takeoffs and landings in the 3 weeks aboard. Lots of fun, but not sure I'd do it again.
Regards,
Andy G.

[Fran Crimi]

Wow. That must have been wild.

I used to date an Air Force Colonel and he took me to his base at Langley once to take me up in a fighter jet, but they were having some kind of top secret whatever that day and they wouldn't give me clearance to go on the airfield. I didn't even know a civilian could ride in one of those things. Oh well...probably just as well I didn't go...he was asking me questions like, "Have you ever flown upside down?"

Wally, LaGuardia is a scary airport to fly into. It has only two runways that criss-cross each other and both are the shortest in the country for the size aircraft that take-off and land there. The landing has to be perfect and there's no room for error. I've been on flights where we had to abort the landing, go around and try again. And this is happening all above the city of NY.

Fran

[Voodoo Daddy]

LaGuardia is brutal...Logan is equally as brutal in the winter. The worst IMO is Mile High in Denver Co. Never in my life have I struggled with takeoff/landings as I do there...I hate it.

[9 Ball Girl]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote Fran Crimi:</font><hr> Wally, LaGuardia is a scary airport to fly into. It has only two runways that criss-cross each other and both are the shortest in the country for the size aircraft that take-off and land there. The landing has to be perfect and there's no room for error. I've been on flights where we had to abort the landing, go around and try again. And this is happening all above the city of NY.
Fran <hr /></blockquote>

Now I know why people hate flying into LaGuardia! Eveytime I've flown into LaGuardia, its been at night. When I flew back from VA last September, it was day. Well! As we're beginning our descent, I noticed the water. Then the water was closer and closer and closer still. I'm thinking, "Holy $hit! We're gonna miss the runway and just land in the water! What the hell did the Flight Attendant say to do with those mask thingys and that floatation seat thingy!" I looked around at the other passengers and they seemed fine. I looked out the window again and I swear that if I were able to open the window, I could touch the water. I was going through my own silent madness! Anyway, we finally landed and I was back to "normal" again.