Unless you happen to have a tuba on your head, I'm sure you've heard of the amazing kick-ass pilot who landed a disabled US Airways plane on the Hudson river last week.
I was in my office in midtown Manhattan when this happened and I don't think I need to point out that reports of a plane "crashing" in the Hudson river, just a few blocks away from where we were sitting, did not sit well with me and my co-workers. So we were all relieved to hear that not only did everyone survive, nobody was even hurt.
CNN reports that passengers on a previous flight on the very same plane heard a loud bang just after takeoff. What was wrong with the plane was never made clear but the pilot turned back to La Guardia for inspection. Nevertheless the plane was fit for service just two day later.
This story hit a little close to home for me. I flew to Nashville on Thanksgiving Day a few months ago. I took a US Airways flight from La Guardia to Pittsburgh Philadelphia for a one hour lay-over before catching a connecting flight to Nashville. I arrived in Pittsburgh Philadelphia without a hitch but was not so lucky in Pittsburgh Philadelphia. On my connecting flight the plane started to taxi toward the runway and then stopped. About ten minutes went by and some passengers including myself were getting a little impatient. Then the pilot announced that there was a mechanical problem but not to worry because there was another plane available should we need it...
Okay...
Call me a nervous nellie, but I am not a fan of staying on an airplane where there is any question of a mechanical issue. I'm sorry but if it's serious enough to delay takeoff - I say it's serious enough to need further inspection before we are 32,000 feet in the air.
So I was relieved when the pilot announced that we would be transferring to another plane. My relief was short lived because the pilot announced just a few minutes later that poof.. the mechanic has fixed the problem and we should be prepared for take-off.
By this time the flight was an hour late for takeoff and we were getting very impatient. It was Thanksgiving Day after all and most of us wanted to be in Nashville in time for turkey dinner. I wanted to move on but I didn't want to crash to my death either. The pilot then announced that the mechanic was still looking over the "issue" and then decide if we were going to stay on this plane or move to the other one.
Well I just about freaked and so did a few more passengers. The pilot had left the cockpit at this point and was standing in aisle talking to some very upset passengers. I was upset but more importantly I was scared and I wasn't sure I wanted to stay on this plane weather it was cleared for take off or not. I raised my hand and said "um, I'm not sure I want to stay on this plane with all the mechanical problems you seem to be having. I don't think it's safe" the pilot looked at me and said "It's always safe." and walked away.
I couldn't help but think that it was Thanksgiving Day and so it was quite possible that most of who was working that day were D list employees. I was also in a tough spot. On the one hand I didn't want to miss this flight because not only would I probably not be able to get another one to Nashville that day I would also be stuck in Philadelphia ( which may have not been a bad thing. I've been wanting to spend some time in Philadelphia.)
Thankfully, the plane was put out of service and we all (gratefully) transferred to another plane and while we were delayed almost an hour and a half we all arrived to our Thanksgiving dinners on time and in one piece.
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