Personally, we had a flight from SFO to HNL turn back about an hour out with a concern of a rancid “mist” in the cockpit.
Dan Martinez historian was booked on the plane that hit the Pentagon on 9/11 but had delayed his departure to finish some details on a TV project. He was concurrently heading the Dec 7 Symposium. Fate or luck, your choice.
Safety thoughts: Wear the seatbelt all of the time; know where your closest exitS are, count seat backs in both ways; know how to open the emerg exit even if not in the row And know when Not to open it; affirm not taking your shoes off, ever; concisely, calmy report something abnormal citing the Aloha flight passenger.
As to safe clothing: 45-year pilot here. I wear natural fiber (cotton or wool) and am careful to avoid synthetics when I fly. Reason: natural fibers won’t melt into the skin as synthetics will. If I have a fighting chance of escaping a fire, I don’t want plastic melted into me.
Howdy,
Yes, choosing seats depending on the duration of flight has become an art form with, guesswork and some luck.
On the last trip back in April on Delta from Kauai to Tampa, I did a very rare upgrade from economy to “Comfort Plus” since my wife and eye were on the Red Eye to Seattle then a long flight to Tampa from there after a four hour layover. On the Red Eye I chose a window seat so nobody bumping into me so I could sleep. Seat was broken and could only go back one notch. Second flight as we were boarding, agent summarily told us our seats were both reassigned to middle Economy seats. As we entered plane the entire 3 seat row we were supposed to sit in was cordoned off with crime scene tape! Agent was nasty and could care less.
“Second flight as we were boarding, agent summarily told us our seats were both reassigned to middle Economy seats. As we entered plane the entire 3 seat row we were supposed to sit in was cordoned off with crime scene tape! Agent was nasty and could care less.”
And here is why I’m not very interested in paying for upgraded seats.
Crime Scene Tape is typically a “Mood Killer” as well as a Scene Stealer. On a plane all sorts of thoughts come to mind, especially if those were your intended seats,don’t count on the lottery winners to be in your pocket either! As long as the Crime Scene Tape doesn’t extend to the missing pieces of exterior fuselage consider yourself fortunate to have a seat.
One wonders how the death jet aka 737 max has avoided the near total airline boycott of the rep damaged dc10. Are airlines ceos more in love with bonus that deeply discounted planes aid, thinking the public is stupid and greed by the lowest airfare they will risk lives on a plane that killed 341 ppl.
My flying instructor was trained by the female pilot who landed the Aloha flight. I remember when I asked about where to sit on commercial, he said to remember that no planes are designed to crash. A good pilot always errs on the side of caution and I will will change flights in bad weather. On New Years Eve I flew from LIH to HNL and I praised the pilots on the incoming service who opted to return to Honolulu after two go arounds. Three hour delay but the right call. People worry about the long ocean flight to Hawaii but the most dangerous times are not in flight but take off and landing with the other traffic. Still safer than the roads.
“Following that crash, DC-10 aircraft suffered from reputation impairment.”
Reputation impairment… you might have a future in Public Relations, you know?
Actually the DC-10’s reputation was already significantly impaired due to a couple of previous crashes in ’72 and ’74, traced a cargo door that had problems, which led to other problems.
Aloha BOH,
Jeff’s story is gripping and can totally agree with the suggestions offered. Retired (45 yrs) FA here who was working for PSA when they suffered mid air on approach to SAN -we lost many friends who were deadheading and commmuting on flight. Working with AFA and NTSB I was part of 2 aircraft accident investigations – one survivable – and it’s so important to pay attention to FA safety briefings; knowing your exits and how to operate . Praying for safe flights to all destinations …
Mahalo
While plane crashes are catastrophic & headline grabbing, statistically it’s a very safe way to travel.
In 2021 there were 176 fatalities worldwide in plane mishaps vs. almost 43,000 traffic fatalities in the US alone.
Personally, we had a flight from SFO to HNL turn back about an hour out with a concern of a rancid “mist” in the cockpit.
Dan Martinez historian was booked on the plane that hit the Pentagon on 9/11 but had delayed his departure to finish some details on a TV project. He was concurrently heading the Dec 7 Symposium. Fate or luck, your choice.
Safety thoughts: Wear the seatbelt all of the time; know where your closest exitS are, count seat backs in both ways; know how to open the emerg exit even if not in the row And know when Not to open it; affirm not taking your shoes off, ever; concisely, calmy report something abnormal citing the Aloha flight passenger.
As to safe clothing: 45-year pilot here. I wear natural fiber (cotton or wool) and am careful to avoid synthetics when I fly. Reason: natural fibers won’t melt into the skin as synthetics will. If I have a fighting chance of escaping a fire, I don’t want plastic melted into me.
Howdy,
Yes, choosing seats depending on the duration of flight has become an art form with, guesswork and some luck.
On the last trip back in April on Delta from Kauai to Tampa, I did a very rare upgrade from economy to “Comfort Plus” since my wife and eye were on the Red Eye to Seattle then a long flight to Tampa from there after a four hour layover. On the Red Eye I chose a window seat so nobody bumping into me so I could sleep. Seat was broken and could only go back one notch. Second flight as we were boarding, agent summarily told us our seats were both reassigned to middle Economy seats. As we entered plane the entire 3 seat row we were supposed to sit in was cordoned off with crime scene tape! Agent was nasty and could care less.
“Second flight as we were boarding, agent summarily told us our seats were both reassigned to middle Economy seats. As we entered plane the entire 3 seat row we were supposed to sit in was cordoned off with crime scene tape! Agent was nasty and could care less.”
And here is why I’m not very interested in paying for upgraded seats.
Crime Scene Tape is typically a “Mood Killer” as well as a Scene Stealer. On a plane all sorts of thoughts come to mind, especially if those were your intended seats,don’t count on the lottery winners to be in your pocket either! As long as the Crime Scene Tape doesn’t extend to the missing pieces of exterior fuselage consider yourself fortunate to have a seat.
Jeff/Rob,
Given the airline safety record, I’ll take the front of the plane anytime I can swing it!
And, that’s where I’ll be on Sep 9 and the 25 going home. Hope I’m not jinxing it.
Aloha!
Hi Rod.
We understand completely. Even after losing Jean in that crash, we do feel prefer seating as close to the front as possible.
Aloha.
One wonders how the death jet aka 737 max has avoided the near total airline boycott of the rep damaged dc10. Are airlines ceos more in love with bonus that deeply discounted planes aid, thinking the public is stupid and greed by the lowest airfare they will risk lives on a plane that killed 341 ppl.
My flying instructor was trained by the female pilot who landed the Aloha flight. I remember when I asked about where to sit on commercial, he said to remember that no planes are designed to crash. A good pilot always errs on the side of caution and I will will change flights in bad weather. On New Years Eve I flew from LIH to HNL and I praised the pilots on the incoming service who opted to return to Honolulu after two go arounds. Three hour delay but the right call. People worry about the long ocean flight to Hawaii but the most dangerous times are not in flight but take off and landing with the other traffic. Still safer than the roads.
“Following that crash, DC-10 aircraft suffered from reputation impairment.”
Reputation impairment… you might have a future in Public Relations, you know?
Actually the DC-10’s reputation was already significantly impaired due to a couple of previous crashes in ’72 and ’74, traced a cargo door that had problems, which led to other problems.
Aloha BOH,
Jeff’s story is gripping and can totally agree with the suggestions offered. Retired (45 yrs) FA here who was working for PSA when they suffered mid air on approach to SAN -we lost many friends who were deadheading and commmuting on flight. Working with AFA and NTSB I was part of 2 aircraft accident investigations – one survivable – and it’s so important to pay attention to FA safety briefings; knowing your exits and how to operate . Praying for safe flights to all destinations …
Mahalo
Hi Cheryl.
Thanks for the input on this. Yes, we too remember the PSA SAN loss.
Aloha.
Yikes!!! so glad you are safe.
Hi Ane.
Thanks! Same here. Grateful.
Aloha.