Home again
27/09/12 05:12
“This is your captain speaking. We are going to return to the gate so maintenance can come aboard and solve a minor maintenance issue. It shouldn’t take very long and we’ll be on our way shortly. I thank you for your patience.”
That is the way my trip home began yesterday. The “patience” for which we had just been thanked had not yet been demonstrated, but it was about to be tested. The captain was right, the crew was aboard and the problem corrected quickly. We left Cleveland about 25 minutes late – plenty of time to make my connection in Denver.
The 2½ hour flight went smoothly and soon we got our instructions to prepare for landing. I could see a few dark clouds out the window, even though I had an aisle seat. The woman sitting near the window said, that must be the gear, good. But I noticed it wasn’t the gear. The captain had added power, we had started to climb and the sound the woman heard was the flaps retracting. A couple of minutes later.
“This is your captain speaking. We’ve just had to interrupt our final descent due to a storm. It is currently hailing and they have temporarily closed the airport in Denver. So you’ll see us making a few turns. We’re going to circle here south of the airport for a few minutes until the hailstorm passes. It shouldn’t be more than 15 minutes. We’ll have you on the ground shortly. I thank you for your patience.”
Patience would definitely be the order of the day, but I reassured myself that I could still make my connection because if the airport was closed, outbound flights would be delayed as well.
It wasn’t too long before we were on a short final approach with the flaps and gear down and made a landing in relatively heavy rain. We pulled off of the runway and I turned on my phone and tried to check my connecting flight. The computer was still showing it on time, but I knew that couldn’t be right. I checked the departure gate: B71.
“This is your captain speaking. We’re going to be holding here short of the terminal for a little while. There is lightning in the area and the ground crews have been pulled off of the ramp. We’ll wait until things clear up and then we’ll get you to the gate as soon as they open the ramp up. In the meantime, please remain seated with your seatbelt securely fastened. We appreciate your patience.”
It’s going to be one of those days, I sighed. I also noted that some of my fellow passengers weren’t exactly demonstrating patience. The flight attendant made an announcement that they didn’t have information on connecting flights. I glanced at my phone. It said, “United data services are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”
We pulled into our gate a few minutes later – just over an hour later than our scheduled time. Still I was hopeful that my Rapid City flight might also be delayed and I could make my connection. I glanced out the window to see if I could see our arrival gate: B6. I know the Denver airport, or at least the B concourse at Denver. I was going to get to use all of the pedestrian walkways that night – I was going to make the trip from one end of the concourse to the other. At least my departure gate wasn’t in the commuter annex off the far end of the concourse.
It took a few minutes for passengers to grab their bags and deplane. There was a crush of bodies in the jetway and I had to be patient. The terminal was full – that was a good sign. As I walked as fast as I could without breaking into a jog, I heard a couple of announcements about delays. That was a good sign.
I arrived at my out-going gate in time to hear an announcement that our aircraft was on the ground, but the crew was on another in-bound flight so there would be a delay. I said a quick prayer of thanks. I hadn’t missed the connection. I even had time to go to the bathroom.
It turned out that I also had time to get a cup of tea and drink it at a leisurely pace, though not in a leisurely place because the seating area was full and so I had to stand.
The announcements kept coming: “The ramp has closed once again.” “The aircraft needs to be inspected for hail damage. We don’t know how long that will take, as there are other aircraft that also need to be inspected.”
I listened to the announcements about other flights. Several had gate change announcements. A couple had announcements for passengers to remain in the gate area. A few were boarded. From time to time, I checked my phone to read: “United data services are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”
Flight tracker had our flight listed as delayed by an hour. Then it added more time. And it updated with new, later departure times again and again. I heard a couple of cancellation announcements. It wasn’t sounding good.
On the other hand, I was making friends in the waiting area. A man waiting for the Rapid City flight was cousin of the wife of the son of a good friend of ours. You don’t find those things out until you’ve been together for a little while. I made a game of checking to see if flight tracker would give me information before they came over the pa. The crowd got larger and a bit more frazzled. The woman who had been standing at the boarding kiosk for a long time fainted. The terminal EMTs were quick to respond and soon she was seated and sipping water. It didn’t appear that she was seriously injured.
When they finally called our flight, we walked downstairs to the place where you walk across the ramp to the plane to be told that the ramp had once again closed and that we’d have to wait. This time, the ramp crew was waiting with us. Most of them stood, some sat on the floor. They’d been doing this all evening. The crew sprung into action as soon as they got their radio message. Soon we were jogging across the ramp in driving rain to our plane, where we waited for one more ramp closure before departing.
Still, I thought, my ancestors would be amazed that I could have a lunch meeting in Cleveland and still make it home to sleep in my own bed in Rapid City the same night – well, not technically the same night since it was past midnight when we finally got off the plane. I had hoped Rapid City might get some of the rain, but it was perfectly dry.
I left the airport feeling lucky. I’d be home in less than a half hour. The folks I was talking to in Denver still had a three-hour drive to Bison and the woman had a 7:30 a.m. meeting this morning. I hope they didn’t see too many deer.
This morning my cell phone is still reading: “United data services are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”
That is the way my trip home began yesterday. The “patience” for which we had just been thanked had not yet been demonstrated, but it was about to be tested. The captain was right, the crew was aboard and the problem corrected quickly. We left Cleveland about 25 minutes late – plenty of time to make my connection in Denver.
The 2½ hour flight went smoothly and soon we got our instructions to prepare for landing. I could see a few dark clouds out the window, even though I had an aisle seat. The woman sitting near the window said, that must be the gear, good. But I noticed it wasn’t the gear. The captain had added power, we had started to climb and the sound the woman heard was the flaps retracting. A couple of minutes later.
“This is your captain speaking. We’ve just had to interrupt our final descent due to a storm. It is currently hailing and they have temporarily closed the airport in Denver. So you’ll see us making a few turns. We’re going to circle here south of the airport for a few minutes until the hailstorm passes. It shouldn’t be more than 15 minutes. We’ll have you on the ground shortly. I thank you for your patience.”
Patience would definitely be the order of the day, but I reassured myself that I could still make my connection because if the airport was closed, outbound flights would be delayed as well.
It wasn’t too long before we were on a short final approach with the flaps and gear down and made a landing in relatively heavy rain. We pulled off of the runway and I turned on my phone and tried to check my connecting flight. The computer was still showing it on time, but I knew that couldn’t be right. I checked the departure gate: B71.
“This is your captain speaking. We’re going to be holding here short of the terminal for a little while. There is lightning in the area and the ground crews have been pulled off of the ramp. We’ll wait until things clear up and then we’ll get you to the gate as soon as they open the ramp up. In the meantime, please remain seated with your seatbelt securely fastened. We appreciate your patience.”
It’s going to be one of those days, I sighed. I also noted that some of my fellow passengers weren’t exactly demonstrating patience. The flight attendant made an announcement that they didn’t have information on connecting flights. I glanced at my phone. It said, “United data services are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”
We pulled into our gate a few minutes later – just over an hour later than our scheduled time. Still I was hopeful that my Rapid City flight might also be delayed and I could make my connection. I glanced out the window to see if I could see our arrival gate: B6. I know the Denver airport, or at least the B concourse at Denver. I was going to get to use all of the pedestrian walkways that night – I was going to make the trip from one end of the concourse to the other. At least my departure gate wasn’t in the commuter annex off the far end of the concourse.
It took a few minutes for passengers to grab their bags and deplane. There was a crush of bodies in the jetway and I had to be patient. The terminal was full – that was a good sign. As I walked as fast as I could without breaking into a jog, I heard a couple of announcements about delays. That was a good sign.
I arrived at my out-going gate in time to hear an announcement that our aircraft was on the ground, but the crew was on another in-bound flight so there would be a delay. I said a quick prayer of thanks. I hadn’t missed the connection. I even had time to go to the bathroom.
It turned out that I also had time to get a cup of tea and drink it at a leisurely pace, though not in a leisurely place because the seating area was full and so I had to stand.
The announcements kept coming: “The ramp has closed once again.” “The aircraft needs to be inspected for hail damage. We don’t know how long that will take, as there are other aircraft that also need to be inspected.”
I listened to the announcements about other flights. Several had gate change announcements. A couple had announcements for passengers to remain in the gate area. A few were boarded. From time to time, I checked my phone to read: “United data services are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”
Flight tracker had our flight listed as delayed by an hour. Then it added more time. And it updated with new, later departure times again and again. I heard a couple of cancellation announcements. It wasn’t sounding good.
When they finally called our flight, we walked downstairs to the place where you walk across the ramp to the plane to be told that the ramp had once again closed and that we’d have to wait. This time, the ramp crew was waiting with us. Most of them stood, some sat on the floor. They’d been doing this all evening. The crew sprung into action as soon as they got their radio message. Soon we were jogging across the ramp in driving rain to our plane, where we waited for one more ramp closure before departing.
Still, I thought, my ancestors would be amazed that I could have a lunch meeting in Cleveland and still make it home to sleep in my own bed in Rapid City the same night – well, not technically the same night since it was past midnight when we finally got off the plane. I had hoped Rapid City might get some of the rain, but it was perfectly dry.
I left the airport feeling lucky. I’d be home in less than a half hour. The folks I was talking to in Denver still had a three-hour drive to Bison and the woman had a 7:30 a.m. meeting this morning. I hope they didn’t see too many deer.
This morning my cell phone is still reading: “United data services are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”