There's more. On the return flight, we were delayed boarding the plane because they needed to change a tire on the landing gear. They did that. We boarded. I got my favorite seat, Row #1 right in the bulkhead. No better seat for me on the plane. All seemed okay. But then again, this is me. Something has to go wrong.
You know that tire they repaired? Well it blew on take-off. Yep, that's right. It blew. Sounded like what I imagine a missile entering the fuselage might be like.
The captain was great. Really great. He assured us nothing was wrong. We were in no danger. The tower had us flying in a low altitude circle so they could do a visual inspection to determine if we needed to land right then or if we'd be okay proceeding to our destination. They determined the later.
They also determined that the landing gear should stay down. Apparently they were worried that if the gear was retracted it might not make it back down thereby forcing us into a crash landing on the belly of the plane. I applauded their decision even though it made for a rougher flight.
The flight itself was uneventful. Couldn't believe I was actually having a great flight-- in spite of the obvious. Everything continued to be fine until we were ready to land. Remember that captain that was so wonderful? His wonderfulness included not telling us that with one blown tire, we had to prepare for an emergency landing. Yep. That's right. Crash positions. You know how wonderful that bulkhead seat is? Well, scrap it for crash positions. There's nothing between you and the galley and all those burners and such.
I glanced out the window and saw a sea of flashing red lights. Looked to me like every fire department within 50 miles must have been there. I know that wasn't the case but.... The danger is that the other tires might not be able to bear the brunt of the plane's weight and force on landing. If not, then the plane could be forced onto its belly. You get the picture.
No one told us this until we needed to know. I'm glad for that. I use the same philosopohy when welcoming folks to my parish. Don't tell people stuff they don't need to know until right before they need to know it. In the case of visitors, you do it because they won't remember it if you tell them too earlyt. In my case, you don't tell me because I won't forget and will obsess over it the whole time.
The landing was fine. You couldn't even tell. I swore never to fly for another year.
pax [+]
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