Fuel Leak And Scary Hotel

November 30, 2009

in Airplane Stories

The day I thought I was going to London was a day that I was very excited. I woke up like normal, brushed my teeth, showered and had a good breakfast, then I realized I needed to go to the airport to get to London! I checked my bags effortlessly and went through the deathly security line. This trip to London took place in the spring of 2002. After 9-11 I was still a little cautious about flying.

We headed off and all seemed well… until we were 6 hours into the flight! The plane shook violently and sunk a little. I, along with everyone else on the plane, began freaking out. All of a sudden our plane turned around and everyone on the plane began wondering if we were terrorist victims. To our bitter delight it wasn’t the case, but we were over the Atlantic Ocean and the pilot came on and said that we had a leak in the fuel tank and due to not wanting to land in the ocean we were going back to Minneapolis. ALL the airports on the east coast were closed.

We landed 6 hours later in Minneapolis and were told to “fan out, fan out, we need to split you all into groups.” Once in our fun hotel groups we were sent to a “Shining” like scary hotel with red carpets and long hallways, plus I was really tired. The next morning I woke up and got to the airport dreading the next adventure on the plane which ended up landing in London with no trouble.

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

Skeptical November 30, 2009 at 10:43 pm

Doubtful… six hours into a Trans-Atlantic flight you would have been 3/4 the way to Europe. It would have been closer to continue to London/Iceland/Paris… than return to MN. The likely-hood of all east coast airports being closed is slim. Next time make it more believable.

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Hugh December 1, 2009 at 12:18 am

I agree with skeptical 100%. Seems fishy, I throw the BS flag.

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david December 1, 2009 at 4:27 am

i dont think that this would happen at all, first of all, by the time you urned around that IF all of the east coast airports were closed due to the time and the noise than MN would be closed by the time you reach it, doesnt make sense there

#2, unless it was a long range aircraft theres no chance that you would have been able to fly all that time WITH a fuel leak, and they dont fill planes with fuel as thats wsting it and just costs more, they only put in enough to get to the destination and a little more

#3, if it was an emergancy situation, than i am sure that you would have landed at an East Coast airport, their not going to allow the pilots to risk peoples lives in a situation like that

4, you would have kept flying to your final destination if you were so far in flight where it is quicker and closer to keep going rather than turning around and the tailwind helps you going from west to east so that if you turned back it only puts added force against the plane which eats up more fuel and extra time

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Lon December 1, 2009 at 6:40 am

Yep, this is definitely total BS. He/she is a bad story teller as well…strange phrasing throughout. Who would say "to our bitter delight"? I think this person is trying too hard to sound like a Brit.

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D-Money December 1, 2009 at 7:02 am

Come on people! These made-up stories are getting worse and worse.

If you need something to do, come help me watch some paint dry, in the dark. 😛

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Other December 2, 2009 at 6:17 am

Half of the fun of this site is seeing people's comments calling many stories BS. At least this story clearly deserves that label.

I don't agree with Lon that this person is trying to sound like a Brit. This is not because he or she claims some excitement at going to London from the US, but rather because they claim to be brushing their teeth. 😉

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CantAffordName July 7, 2012 at 3:43 pm

First and last paragraph are not relevant to the story. The middle paragraph could be reduced by about 50% and still retain all necessary information. If this is indeed a fabricated story at least take the time to lie compellingly.

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