icesk8er31
09-23-2004, 11:19 PM
Ok, so here’s the poop on my trip to Bermuda:
I left for the BNA airport at 6:00 for my 8:00 am flight. Got packed, got the cab, etc. without incident, although the nagging feeling that something was wrong with my flights was still with me (many of you may remember about me posting about my bad feeling about this trip about two weeks ago). I got to the airport and got checked in quickly. Went through security, and went to the gate to get moved forward in the plane (I like to be nowhere near the engines, which is a tough call in a 757). I got moved to row 19, bulkhead row, and then went and got my normal lemon poppyseed pound cake and OJ and settled in at the gate.
The flight to ATL was smooth and easy. Just 38 minutes overall. I got to ATL and went to the gate to try to get a different seat on that plane (767 and I was in row 30-something). I got moved to the bulkhead row again (row 10) and I went off in search of a snack. I can’t believe they don’t have a McDonalds in that airport, and I was craving a sausage biscuit.
Anyway, we took off from ATL on time, but about 20-25 minutes into the flight, the captain announced an "electrical problem." and that we would have to return to ATL. We hauled ass back to ATL (I didn't know a 767 could bank that sharply). I was completely freaking out. I asked a FA what was going on and she said she wasn't sure and hadn't heard from the captain because "they were really busy up there." Well, here’s my “bad feeling” live and in person, I was convinced this was it. I was going down. I cried quietly in my seat and tried not to hyperventillate. We landed safely (with fire trucks and ambulances on the runway) and I had to make the decision whether to continue the trip.
They wouldn’t let anyone off the plane while they tried to fix it. I went up to the galley area to talk to the FAs. I told them I didn’t think I could continue on the flight. I was still shaking and crying. I told them I had been in therapy for 3 years for FOF and that I had a bad feeling about this flight and that I thought I might need to get off. They tried to talk me down…told me that my bad feeling must have transferred to the pilots since they turned us around, told me I’d undo all my hard work if I got off, etc. The captain and co-captain came out to explain what had happened. Seems there are 3 generators on a 767 and that you usually fly with two and that the other is a backup. We had one go off, but the backup didn’t come on, so we only had one functional generator. I asked what would happen if all three went out and they said we would have 30 minutes to land. I asked if there was land within 30 minutes of us on the way to Bermuda, they said no and I shook some more. I took another xanax (bringing me to 1.0 mg, twice my normal doseage). They offered to move me to first class. I accused them of not wanting to let me off because they didn’t want additional delay. We finally agreed that I would continue the flight but that if I died I would be really pissed at them.
I sat in my first class seat and tried not to panic. The guy next to me started witnessing to me, telling me if I had more faith in God I wouldn’t be scared. I tried not to panic and to ignore him. We took off and the flight was fine. I went through customs and to the hotel, where it took 14 hours to sleep off the xanax. I didn’t even take my street clothes off before I was out.
So, I do my conference thing and, of course, the majority of the plane was people from the conference, so I was the celebrity for being the girl that freaked out on the plane. So let’s add some embarrassment to the mix now. I finally started to joke with people about it and said I would try to sit in a row by myself on the way home.
Wednesday came and it was time to hop the taxi to get home. I got in with another conference attendee and he told me that his parents had tried to fly home from BDA two days before and the Delta flight hadn’t taken off due to mechanical problems. I started to wig. By the time I made it to customs, I couldn’t feel my hands because of the breathing issues. I took a xanax and a half. Got to the gate, got a drink and took another xanax. Got on the plane and took another. Settled in in my own personal row and tried not to panic as we took off. Soon I was asleep tho, and it was just like any other flight. Same with the ATL to BNA flight (although that flight felt like a clown car…people just kept getting on and on and on and on for so long that I thought they must have a door in the back and were cycling people off the back). So I’m home now, a little worse for the wear and trying not to dread my flight Sunday to NYC.
And that, my friends is the whole poop.
All the best,
Ice
I left for the BNA airport at 6:00 for my 8:00 am flight. Got packed, got the cab, etc. without incident, although the nagging feeling that something was wrong with my flights was still with me (many of you may remember about me posting about my bad feeling about this trip about two weeks ago). I got to the airport and got checked in quickly. Went through security, and went to the gate to get moved forward in the plane (I like to be nowhere near the engines, which is a tough call in a 757). I got moved to row 19, bulkhead row, and then went and got my normal lemon poppyseed pound cake and OJ and settled in at the gate.
The flight to ATL was smooth and easy. Just 38 minutes overall. I got to ATL and went to the gate to try to get a different seat on that plane (767 and I was in row 30-something). I got moved to the bulkhead row again (row 10) and I went off in search of a snack. I can’t believe they don’t have a McDonalds in that airport, and I was craving a sausage biscuit.
Anyway, we took off from ATL on time, but about 20-25 minutes into the flight, the captain announced an "electrical problem." and that we would have to return to ATL. We hauled ass back to ATL (I didn't know a 767 could bank that sharply). I was completely freaking out. I asked a FA what was going on and she said she wasn't sure and hadn't heard from the captain because "they were really busy up there." Well, here’s my “bad feeling” live and in person, I was convinced this was it. I was going down. I cried quietly in my seat and tried not to hyperventillate. We landed safely (with fire trucks and ambulances on the runway) and I had to make the decision whether to continue the trip.
They wouldn’t let anyone off the plane while they tried to fix it. I went up to the galley area to talk to the FAs. I told them I didn’t think I could continue on the flight. I was still shaking and crying. I told them I had been in therapy for 3 years for FOF and that I had a bad feeling about this flight and that I thought I might need to get off. They tried to talk me down…told me that my bad feeling must have transferred to the pilots since they turned us around, told me I’d undo all my hard work if I got off, etc. The captain and co-captain came out to explain what had happened. Seems there are 3 generators on a 767 and that you usually fly with two and that the other is a backup. We had one go off, but the backup didn’t come on, so we only had one functional generator. I asked what would happen if all three went out and they said we would have 30 minutes to land. I asked if there was land within 30 minutes of us on the way to Bermuda, they said no and I shook some more. I took another xanax (bringing me to 1.0 mg, twice my normal doseage). They offered to move me to first class. I accused them of not wanting to let me off because they didn’t want additional delay. We finally agreed that I would continue the flight but that if I died I would be really pissed at them.
I sat in my first class seat and tried not to panic. The guy next to me started witnessing to me, telling me if I had more faith in God I wouldn’t be scared. I tried not to panic and to ignore him. We took off and the flight was fine. I went through customs and to the hotel, where it took 14 hours to sleep off the xanax. I didn’t even take my street clothes off before I was out.
So, I do my conference thing and, of course, the majority of the plane was people from the conference, so I was the celebrity for being the girl that freaked out on the plane. So let’s add some embarrassment to the mix now. I finally started to joke with people about it and said I would try to sit in a row by myself on the way home.
Wednesday came and it was time to hop the taxi to get home. I got in with another conference attendee and he told me that his parents had tried to fly home from BDA two days before and the Delta flight hadn’t taken off due to mechanical problems. I started to wig. By the time I made it to customs, I couldn’t feel my hands because of the breathing issues. I took a xanax and a half. Got to the gate, got a drink and took another xanax. Got on the plane and took another. Settled in in my own personal row and tried not to panic as we took off. Soon I was asleep tho, and it was just like any other flight. Same with the ATL to BNA flight (although that flight felt like a clown car…people just kept getting on and on and on and on for so long that I thought they must have a door in the back and were cycling people off the back). So I’m home now, a little worse for the wear and trying not to dread my flight Sunday to NYC.
And that, my friends is the whole poop.
All the best,
Ice