Out and Back: Lost comms, exploding extinguishers
Man, it sure would have been helpful if Rob could have squawked 7600 in the concourse this morning. Unbeknownst to me, his cell phone was safely… with his wife.
See, a couple days ago, Rob told me to tag along for an out-and-back trip or two with him. I’m about to start systems class, and he said it might help my understanding of how all the little parts came together. This morning, I got up, ate breakfast and left the hotel at 7:45. I went to flight safety and picked up my Jepp revisions, then rode to ATL. I paid my $50 to cover my year’s worth of non-rev benefits. Then, I picked up my SIDA badge and figured it was time to find Rob.
I remembered one of Rob’s flights was to Fayetteville, NC.. the train got me to our councourse at 9:20. I looked on the boards, and the only Fayetteville flight was about ready to go: 10 minutes till departure.
I jogged down to the end of the concourse in time to hear the announcement, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve been informed the 9:35 flight to Fayetteville is delayed. We should be ready to depart at 9:45.”
I still wasn’t sure this was Rob’s flight, so I walked up to the gate agent and asked the agent if Rob was the captain on this flight. “We can’t disclose that information,” she told me.
So.. I hunkered down by a window and watched. Rob walked up to the plane.. Score! I ran back to the agent.. but she was gone. I tracked down another agent, who bent over backwards to get me on the flight. First, his computer’s printer jammed up and wouldn’t print a ticket, then we went to another computer - which was locked - and to another agent’s counter - which we borrowed to get me a jumpseat pass printed. I had to duck under the barrier (already blocked off the gate) and I scurried out to the plane.
The adventure begins.
So I walked up on the plane, passport, pilot certificate and jumpseat pass in hand, and approached the flight deck. The flight attendant glanced at my credentials and waved me forward.
Rob glanced up at me and asked to see my credentials. He scoured them over, and just as he finished up, the first officer looked up at me.
“This is Jeremy King, from the standards department,” Rob said, introducing me to the his first officer. I caught on quickly.
“There were complaints,” I said.
We all all laughed.
“Unless I’m bleeding or on the news, I’m not going to write up anyone,” Rob said.
We went through the checks, pushed back and started to taxi out.
You have to understand. It’s 60 yards from the hangar to the departure end of the runway at the farm. It’s not a complex process. This airline stuff is a little different. Call company. call ramp control and beg for a push. “Push straight back, mains on the line,” ramp says. Tug man pushes us back. We fire up number two, and he disconnects.
Ramp sends us down ramp four, to the south. We get to the end of the ramp, number one for the taxiway, and a tug scoots across in front of us. hArTsfieLd’s ramp speed limit is 15 M.P.H.; I think this guy was confused. He was moving. His fire extinguisher, however, wasn’t too fond of its perch. It fell off right in front of us, and exploded. Poof. White cloud billowing in front of us, and we’re stuck. A Delta truck drove right past it, rubbernecking at the carcass of the fire bottle as he passed.
The rest of the flight to Fayetteville was uneventful - but I learned a ton. At fayetteville, I relisted for the jumpseat, and we came on back.
Lessons learned: SAT and TAT are different creatures. One is the actual temperature at altitude, the other is the temperature the airplane feels at that altitude - based on friction and pressure gradients immediately around the airplane. There is a whole extra layer beneath the concourses most folks see. It’s a world apart.
And airline pilots take no shame in ordering kids meals from Moe’s Southwest Grill. For less than 5 bucks, one can have a mega burrito, chips, cookie and drink.
Ran into a delta pilot I know on the airport train.. It’s a small world.
We’re having fun now. It is starting to make sense.