Weird flight
Two weird things happened on today's flight.
Weird Thing #1: The plane was boarded, the door was locked, and the plane was starting to pull away from the gate.... when a really confused dude stumbled up to the front, and asked the flight attendants, "Umm, hey, can I still get off this plane?" He then explained that he had gotten separated from his wife and child in the airport (he added the extraneous information that they were connecting from LA), that he had boarded the plane, and that *shock* they were not on board. Why he only discovered this AFTER we had started to pull away from the gate instead of, say, AS HE TOOK HIS SEAT AFTER BOARDING seemed to confuse everyone. The captain did make the decision to pull back to the gate, and let the guy out. The captain refused, however, to allow the luggage people to come out, find the dude's checked luggage, and pull it off the plane. That whole episode put a plane that was running right on time about 10-15 minutes behind.
Weird Thing #2: Just minutes later (when everyone was supposed to be seated), a colorfully dressed older man who appeared to be Latin American barged into the first-class cabin. When a confused flight attendant asked if she could help him, he said, "I was hoping for some breakfast." I think he was trying to make a joke, but it didn't really come off that way. Instead, it came off as strange crazy man getting WAY too close to the flight deck before the plane had taken off. As I was wondering if we were going to have to tackle the strange man, he announced that actually, he needed to use the restroom, but they were all locked. The flight attendant told him yes, they were, because people aren't supposed to use them, you know, during TAKEOFF. She asked if he could make it quick, and did finally let him use the restroom. After he was locked away inside doing his business, a discussion ensued between flight crew and nearby passengers about what a WEIRD start to the flight it had been. He then came out, went back to his seat, and the plane proceeded to roll to the runway.
That was it for the weirdness, thankfully. I hope the dude who somehow "lost" his family found them. I wonder what his wife thought of that.
I did get a chance to test out the noise-canceling headphones that Callie got me for Christmas. They are PHENOMENAL. Highly recommended. I think they will really be nice on future long-haul flights.
UPDATE (01-03-08): The return flight was completely uneventful. I was fortunate enough to score another upgrade, and relaxed with a glass of red wine and a combination of Micky and the Motorcars and Cross Canadian Ragweed over the nifty headphones (which I can't wait to break out for a TATL flight). The flight even got back a little early. Nice.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/01/08 19:42 | Travel | Technorati
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It could have been worse.
Posted by callie @ 23:55 on 01/01/08
They left the guy's luggage on the plane? Now THAT would have made me nervous.
Posted by Cathy @ 06:54 on 01/02/08
I need to invest in a pair of noise reduction headphones.
for the office.
Posted by Cory @ 10:01 on 01/02/08
My latest flights to California and back were completely uneventful ... and we even got back to IAH early! Amazing for holiday travel.
And yes...I don't think I'd want that idiot's luggage on my plane without him either. Too many crazies out there to think about all the different ploys they can dream up!
Posted by Marilynn @ 10:51 on 01/06/08
They left the guy's luggage on the plane? Now THAT would have made me nervous.
That's a damn good point.
Also, Kevin, you and I both know how you could have avoided the weirdness, and it rhymes with Mouthfest...
:)
Posted by Matt Bramanti @ 17:26 on 01/08/08
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