Flying Adventures
So to update ya'll who aren't on facebook, I've had an adventure getting out of Des Moines. You may be aware that it is snowing out here?
I was scheduled to leave at 2:30pm today, flying through Chicago. Yesterday while I was in a meeting, Chicago cancelled all fights leaving after noon today. So I obediently called my travel agent (travelocity) as the directions suggested, and waited a quite reasonable 20 minutes to talk to an operator who could not help me, and then was transfered and on hold another 10 minutes before the phone disconnected. So I called United and was on hold an hour, but got a flight through Denver (which, you may notice, is west of Des Moines, but also west of the storm). This required skipping all the Tuesday parts of the meeting, and then sitting in Denver for four hours before proceeding home. But hey, I'm headed home!
The flight was delayed, but hey, I have a long layover! Then they had trouble with the de-icing, but hey! I have a long layover. Finally 45 minutes late, we are in the air.
All is fine until just before time to land. We had circled the airport once, which seemed odd, since it was clear and beautiful, but hey, I have a long layover. Then the pilot came on and told us that we have a problem with the flaps*, and thus would need to make an emergency landing at a very fast speed. Luckily, he said, Denver has the longest runway in the United States.
Then the flight attendants came on and told us that we must remain in our seats, and asked us to get the emergency information card and the reviewed how to find the exits and how to get out them. Have you ever been on a flight where every single person looked at the card?They then instructed us in how to brace for an emergency landing and had us practice while they walked through the aisles to ensure we each had it correctly.
We then could "relax" while they instructed us to take remove and store all jewelry and glasses and to remove anything pointy or sharp from the seat back pockets. Women with high heels should remove them if they can do that without unfastening their seat belt. At "please remove your nylons" we erupted in nervous laughter. (My traveling companion had on nylon knee-highs and followed the advice.)
We had been warned that when they told us to "brace" they would be yelling the instruction just in case the sound system stopped working, so it was surreal, rather than unexpected when they gave the instruction, sounding somewhat like an echo, since we could hear both the sound system and their voice. "Brace, brace, head down, head down! Brace, brace, head down, head down!" This continued for about 14 hours** as the plane hit down hard and eventually slowed to a stop. The fight attendants stopped yelling and we looked up cautiously and the applauded.
So now I'm Denver, waiting for the next flight.
*I have no idea what they said was wrong with the plane. You know its really hard remember stuff like that.
**I'm reasonably certain it was actually less time than that.
I was scheduled to leave at 2:30pm today, flying through Chicago. Yesterday while I was in a meeting, Chicago cancelled all fights leaving after noon today. So I obediently called my travel agent (travelocity) as the directions suggested, and waited a quite reasonable 20 minutes to talk to an operator who could not help me, and then was transfered and on hold another 10 minutes before the phone disconnected. So I called United and was on hold an hour, but got a flight through Denver (which, you may notice, is west of Des Moines, but also west of the storm). This required skipping all the Tuesday parts of the meeting, and then sitting in Denver for four hours before proceeding home. But hey, I'm headed home!
The flight was delayed, but hey, I have a long layover! Then they had trouble with the de-icing, but hey! I have a long layover. Finally 45 minutes late, we are in the air.
All is fine until just before time to land. We had circled the airport once, which seemed odd, since it was clear and beautiful, but hey, I have a long layover. Then the pilot came on and told us that we have a problem with the flaps*, and thus would need to make an emergency landing at a very fast speed. Luckily, he said, Denver has the longest runway in the United States.
Then the flight attendants came on and told us that we must remain in our seats, and asked us to get the emergency information card and the reviewed how to find the exits and how to get out them. Have you ever been on a flight where every single person looked at the card?They then instructed us in how to brace for an emergency landing and had us practice while they walked through the aisles to ensure we each had it correctly.
We then could "relax" while they instructed us to take remove and store all jewelry and glasses and to remove anything pointy or sharp from the seat back pockets. Women with high heels should remove them if they can do that without unfastening their seat belt. At "please remove your nylons" we erupted in nervous laughter. (My traveling companion had on nylon knee-highs and followed the advice.)
We had been warned that when they told us to "brace" they would be yelling the instruction just in case the sound system stopped working, so it was surreal, rather than unexpected when they gave the instruction, sounding somewhat like an echo, since we could hear both the sound system and their voice. "Brace, brace, head down, head down! Brace, brace, head down, head down!" This continued for about 14 hours** as the plane hit down hard and eventually slowed to a stop. The fight attendants stopped yelling and we looked up cautiously and the applauded.
So now I'm Denver, waiting for the next flight.
*I have no idea what they said was wrong with the plane. You know its really hard remember stuff like that.
**I'm reasonably certain it was actually less time than that.