I’ve often wondered if any airline passengers of faith have seen strange or sinister objects in the sky.
Many years ago, on a Honolulu to Papatee (Tahiti) flight, I was peering mindlessly out of the windscreen into the moonlit night sky when something strange caught my eye. Borrowing First Navigation Officer T. Nolte’s binoculars, I proceeded to carefully and methodically scan the horizon line. After a moment or two, a tiny, bright orange dot flared up and then quickly faded into a darkening mass. I focused in on the object and to my utter horror and dismay saw what appeared to be a large, dark animal (demonic?) cruising (flying?) just above a Cirrus cloud layer about 2 miles out. In quiet desperation I then closed my eyes and said a prayer to God, and ordered this entity to be gone from my sight.
When I opened my eyes, all I saw was the placid night sky, resplendent with a scattering of stars and an ivory colored waxing gibbous moon. The entity was nowhere to be seen and had obviously been thwarted by the power of my prayer to Almighty God.
Have any Christian passengers (or pilots) here ever seen anything similar?
GOD bless you-
Captain A. Griego
[Ed. note: Capt. Griego also wrote this piece: Pilot Encounters The Antichrist]
Tagged as:
pilot,
weird
I recently flew on business from Northwest Arkansas (XNA) to Charlotte on US Airways. It was an early Monday morning so the flight was almost completely full. I boarded and sat in seat 1F next to the window and had a young woman sitting next to me in the aisle seat. Across the aisle in row 1 both seats were open. The rest of the seats behind me appeared to be completely full. The flight attendant came on the overhead announcing that we would be leaving a little late due to weight distribution issues and that passengers should go ahead and turn off all cell phones and electronic devices. The plane door was not closed so I briefly continued reading through my early morning emails on my phone.
A few minutes later the door was closed and we were ready to depart. A man 2 or 3 rows behind me got up to move to row 1 across from where I was seated. The flight attendant rudely asked the man why he was out of his seat. He mumbled something about moving up to the 1st row. She snapped at him by saying, “Sir, we have weight distribution issues. I’ve already said that. You’re holding up my flight.” She then pointed to his seat and said, “GO SIT BACK DOWN!”
I ignored this bizarre and rude behavior and went back to reading my email, forgetting that the plane door had now been closed. The flight attendant’s voice then came on overhead and stated, “Ladies and gentlemen, for the 4TH TIME turn off all cell phones and electronic devices!” I look up from my phone to see the attendant is leaning over, phone in hand, starring me straight in the face. She had to have been within 5 feet of my face. She was speaking to me directly yet on the phone so everyone else on the plane would hear. She then proceeded to say, “If you have a learning disability I would be more than happy to help you turn off your phone.”
At this point I was shocked that she would actually say this to a plane load of people. I was equally shocked that she appeared to be saying it directly to me via the loudspeaker. Then it gets worse.
She hung up the phone after these comments. At this point I began to turn my phone off as quickly as possible. The flight attendant then looks down at me again (without the speaker phone) and asks me, “Sir, are you mentally retarded? Do I need to help you turn your phone off?” I looked up at her and firmly stated that I have it under control and I’m turning the phone off. I could honestly not believe that she would actually say this out loud to a passenger. I then said angrily to the young woman next to me, “I know she didn’t just say that to me.” The flight attendant heard me say this and quickly attempted to make things better by thanking me for my sense of humor so early in the morning. I did not find this funny at all.
The following day I emailed US Airways Customer Relations department telling them my story. I received a short email response apologizing for the flight attendant’s behavior. I responded to the email saying that I was unsatisfied and would like to speak with someone at US Airways over the phone to discuss my ordeal. I received a 2nd email response. No phone call. After my 3rd email saying again that this was not acceptable to me I finally received a phone call from Customer Relations.
I spoke with a representative for almost half an hour and retold my story only to be told again how sorry they were. I told her I was not looking for a hand-out from US Airways but was surprised they were not offering something more than a verbal apology to a frequent flier with their airline. After arguing this point for a few more minutes the representative put me on hold. She came back a few minutes later and said that she had agreed to send me an email with a flight voucher for future travel, although it was against their normal policy. She did not give me the details of the value of the voucher over the phone.
The final verdict: $25 to $100 off of my next purchased flight. Amount off depends on the total ticket amount of the future flight.
Hardly fair compensation for being asked if I am retarded.
Tagged as:
flight attendant,
US airways
Living in the Rocky Mountains, travelers are faced with either commuting by air to the city airport or driving four hours to catch a connecting flight. To shorten the trip, many locals opt for the often scary, roller coaster rides, casually reading their newspapers while inwardly smiling at gasping tourists clutching their seats. Several years ago, however, I was as terrified as any first time mountain flier on Rocky Mountain Scareways.
I was on the return leg of the commuter flight, coming home after helping my mother, who was beginning chemotherapy. It was early summer and I was exhausted, stumbling through the huge airport, sleep deprived and stressed by my mother’s illness.
I arrived at the commuter gate and was greeted with an Entertainment Tonight TV camera, filming the celebrity-of-the-minute, Kato Kaelin, famous from the OJ Simpson trial. The camera left and the passengers settled onto the plane, which was eerily empty. Kato was in the front and there was a poor woman who was obviously on chemotherapy, head wrapped in a scarf, lying flat on the empty seats as soon as she boarded. I settled into a window seat on the right side, eager to be home with my family after a long week.
The plane quickly taxied down the runway and lifted over the city. The lights twinkled and faded as we headed over the foothills. As the mountains approached, the landscape darkened and I closed my eyes for a quick nap. Suddenly, the plane began lurching and pitching. Though I never enjoy these flights, I was used to turbulence and simply tightened my seat belt to avoid the unsettling feeling of lifting out of the seat.
Through the window, the night sky was black with thick clouds. A huge bang filled the cabin and as I looked out, flames engulfed the right engine. Even a seasoned flier would have panicked at the sight and I was no exception. Fire literally flashed by the window and my ears rang from the sound of lightening hitting metal. The pilot shut down the engine and I could feel the pull to the other side of the plane. I glanced at the ill woman laying across from me; she hadn’t budged and probably felt so bad that she couldn’t have cared less if the plane crashed or slammed into a 14,000 foot peak. Kato’s dark blond head bobbed ahead of me as the pilot tried to settle the rocking plane. The only thoughts in my mind were that I was going to die, and that I was going to die with Kato Kaelin, of all people.
A few minutes later, the pilot’s calming voice came on the speakers, explaining that lightening had struck and knocked out an engine but the plane was designed to withstand something like that. He was turning back to the city because our mountain airport was socked in with fog and he was unable to see the runway lights to land.
I watched nervously out the window and gradually saw highway lights, with tiny cars lining the way. The landing was beautiful and the pilot came out of the cockpit, confident and smiling. I felt like hugging the man but simply said thank you and praised his flying skills. He modestly replied that it was just part of the job.
The FA said they were bringing a new plane in and we could do a turnaround in about an hour. I smiled and went to the rental car counter. After an evening in an airport hotel with a glass of wine and a chick flick, I got a good night’s sleep, went shopping in the morning and drove home the following afternoon. I didn’t take another commuter flight for three years.
Later, my husband told me he was at the airport, waiting for the flight’s arrival. They had brought in emergency vehicles to foam the runway, expecting a crash. He was told by a friend working at the airport that the pilot had lost the instruments as well as the engine. If you ever read this, Captain Pilot, you will never know how truly grateful I am for your calm head and professional skill. And I am really glad that I didn’t “go to the light” with Kato.
Tagged as:
celebrity,
illness & medical,
near disaster,
pilot,
weather
My wife and I were flying from LAX to Tucson labor day weekend about 8 years ago on Southwest. We were already about 45 minutes late before we finally pushed back from the gate. As I watched outside from my window seat just in front of the wing I saw a ramp attendant running towards the back of the plane flailing his arms violently. It was about 2 seconds later that the plane stopped dead in its tracks and about 150 or so passenger necks slammed against the backs of their seats. We sat there for about 20 minutes before the pilot announced that the gate crew had backed the plane up into a lavatory truck puncturing a hole in the rear stabilizer, therefore grounding the plane.
One-hundred and fifty groans and another 30 minutes later, we all got off the plane and boarded another plane (bumping all the passengers off of that flight). We were 2 1/2 hours late leaving LAX and got to Tucson with no other problems. I still wonder what ever happened of the gate crew who most likely took it in the POOP shoot…(sorry humor isn’t my specialty).
Larry
Tagged as:
bumping,
delay & cancellation,
holiday,
southwest airlines
