Worst Plane Trip Ever
Well, I would be remiss if I didn't recount for posterity the adventure that took place on March 6 and 7, 2008.
I was going on a business trip to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, which involved taking a flight from Dulles to Dallas, and Dallas to Laredo, TX. We boarded an MD-80 T-tail jet...and that's when the fun began.
The pilot had us almost out to the runway for take-off, when he came on the intercom and told us that we'd have to go back to the gate due to some mechanical problems. He said the mechanics had been called and that we'd have to wait at the gate until they determined what the problem was.
Well, back at the gate, we waited on the plane (still seated...uh, did I mention this was American Airlines) for two hours, while they tried to figure out whether it was a rudder indicator or a problem with the rudder itself. After two hours, they finally deplaned us and we got to eat at a restaurant in the mid-field terminal. Two hours later, we finally reboarded the same plane and took off (so a 9:30 departure ended up being a 1:30 PM departure).
We finally landed at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (DFW) in 3/4-inch of slush ice....and what a surprise for us AND the airport. They were totally unprepared for this ice storm. It looked like a plane campground with various planes sitting out on the runway areas with their lights blinking. To make a story shorter, most of the flights out of Dallas had been cancelled.
We (me and the other three persons on our business team) then had to wait for a couple of hours in line at the gate to get our tickets fixed. That ended up with one of us having a guaranteed flight out the next day, while the rest of us were on stand-by that same day, with guaranteed flights out the day after.
Finally, we caught a shuttle to a Ramada hotel near the airport. When we arrived, we found 150-200 people standing in line to check in...and it took us 5 hours to check in!!!! Fortunately, the hotel had a nice restaurant bar and we took turns stepping out of line to get food and drink for the others of us standing in line. We finally got our rooms around midnight--the hotel staff (Rajeev & Co.) were totally unprepared for that many people, and their "reservation" method was totally cockamamie....
Next day, we took a cab back to the airport. One of us that was guaranteed got on the plane, the other two got the two last seats on the plane (supposedly, although they told me later that a couple of seats were actually vacant), so that left me in Dallas by myself...and I caught a plane a few hours later to catch up with them.
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On the return trip...the "personal taxi" that the hotel (Crown Plaza in Nuevo Laredo) arranged for me...the driver had not been across the border since the new air terminal had been built in Laredo, TX...so he got lost several times WITHIN SIGHT of the airport terminal!!!! Got to the airport in plenty of time.
AA didn't show up until 30 minutes past the scheduled take-off. The flight was supposed to be 1 hour, 20 minutes, but the pilot did it in just over an hour. I still missed my connecting flight, which was taking off as we landed.
Best part about this worst trip was that I got stuck in the DFW airport for a few extra hours, long enough to meet James Megellas (The 82nd Airborne's Most Decorated Officer...as his book cover says) signing his book in one of the airport bookstores. I got an autographed copy and got my picture taken with him too. The book is entitled, "All the Way to Berlin"....and I look forward to reading it soon.
Flight back to Dulles was uneventful....a trip not to be forgotten!!!!
I was going on a business trip to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, which involved taking a flight from Dulles to Dallas, and Dallas to Laredo, TX. We boarded an MD-80 T-tail jet...and that's when the fun began.
The pilot had us almost out to the runway for take-off, when he came on the intercom and told us that we'd have to go back to the gate due to some mechanical problems. He said the mechanics had been called and that we'd have to wait at the gate until they determined what the problem was.
Well, back at the gate, we waited on the plane (still seated...uh, did I mention this was American Airlines) for two hours, while they tried to figure out whether it was a rudder indicator or a problem with the rudder itself. After two hours, they finally deplaned us and we got to eat at a restaurant in the mid-field terminal. Two hours later, we finally reboarded the same plane and took off (so a 9:30 departure ended up being a 1:30 PM departure).
We finally landed at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (DFW) in 3/4-inch of slush ice....and what a surprise for us AND the airport. They were totally unprepared for this ice storm. It looked like a plane campground with various planes sitting out on the runway areas with their lights blinking. To make a story shorter, most of the flights out of Dallas had been cancelled.
We (me and the other three persons on our business team) then had to wait for a couple of hours in line at the gate to get our tickets fixed. That ended up with one of us having a guaranteed flight out the next day, while the rest of us were on stand-by that same day, with guaranteed flights out the day after.
Finally, we caught a shuttle to a Ramada hotel near the airport. When we arrived, we found 150-200 people standing in line to check in...and it took us 5 hours to check in!!!! Fortunately, the hotel had a nice restaurant bar and we took turns stepping out of line to get food and drink for the others of us standing in line. We finally got our rooms around midnight--the hotel staff (Rajeev & Co.) were totally unprepared for that many people, and their "reservation" method was totally cockamamie....
Next day, we took a cab back to the airport. One of us that was guaranteed got on the plane, the other two got the two last seats on the plane (supposedly, although they told me later that a couple of seats were actually vacant), so that left me in Dallas by myself...and I caught a plane a few hours later to catch up with them.
-----
On the return trip...the "personal taxi" that the hotel (Crown Plaza in Nuevo Laredo) arranged for me...the driver had not been across the border since the new air terminal had been built in Laredo, TX...so he got lost several times WITHIN SIGHT of the airport terminal!!!! Got to the airport in plenty of time.
AA didn't show up until 30 minutes past the scheduled take-off. The flight was supposed to be 1 hour, 20 minutes, but the pilot did it in just over an hour. I still missed my connecting flight, which was taking off as we landed.
Best part about this worst trip was that I got stuck in the DFW airport for a few extra hours, long enough to meet James Megellas (The 82nd Airborne's Most Decorated Officer...as his book cover says) signing his book in one of the airport bookstores. I got an autographed copy and got my picture taken with him too. The book is entitled, "All the Way to Berlin"....and I look forward to reading it soon.
Flight back to Dulles was uneventful....a trip not to be forgotten!!!!
posted by bigmetalbirdlover at 8:23 PM
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