Boy, what a day. In what started as a typical flight home from a typical holiday weekend, changed drastically twenty minutes after take off. My fiancée and I were returning from a few days in Seattle when the unthinkable happened to us – our Alaska MD-80 Airplane tore a hole in it’s fuselage at 30K feet.
First of all, I’m just glad I’m here to write this post, to tell the tale of this horrifying incident – but the stupid circumstances by which it happened, are upsetting.
Nothing can describe the helpless feeling you go through during a time like this, when you are absent any control, you cannot breathe, and everyone around is stunned into fear. It all started with a loud bang – the cabin air began to swirl and the engine sound became deafening. As a GA-VFR pilot, I knew something was terribly wrong. As the smell of acrid AV-gas/JP4 and burning plastic filled the cabin, it created more fear in the eyes of the holiday passengers around me. We were all gripped in silence, surrounded by the white noise from the engines that eerily engulfed the plane into a surreal atmosphere. And as the oxygen masks deployed from the ceiling in a familiar, video-esque manner, we all grasped them in fear – trying to figure out how to breathe through the flimsy pieces of plastic. Parents were the most confused – as the masks were too large for their babies’ faces and were not easy to put on in such a panicked situation. The next few minutes passed like seconds – the plane started diving down to a lower level … and fast.
The first moment of some release was the pilot’s voice over the speaker. It had been more than 20 minutes since he last spoke, when he told us we had reached altitude. Now, he told us that we had leveled off at 10K feet and we were heading back to Sea-Tac airport. Again, since I am a pilot – I had many ideas on how and why this happened. This morning I found out that one of my assumptions was correct – there was a hole in the plane that caused the decompression. A hole that could have cost many lives, including my own. The enraging fact is that a non-union baggage handler ran into the side of the plane moments prior to take-off … and that it was never reported.
Thank god for the help of an amazing cabin crew and pilot. Without them, who knows what could have happened.
The worst part for me was the fact that my Fiancee and I were 4 rows apart and she was closer to the rear of the plane where the loud ‘bang’ and Engine noise was coming from; I couldn’t stop thinking of how she felt, and how terrified she must be all alone back there. But as you know Alaska Airlines often ‘oversells’ flights as usual, in an overbooked flight they couldn’t accomodate us.
Ugh…we’ll here are the photos of the incident as I could take them on my Treo 650, sorry about the resolution 
Update: Some people have been looking “into” my Civil Aviation Information (Captain X), unfortunately it’s not listed under ‘Jeremy Hermanns’ – my nickname is ‘Jeremy’; but my legal name ‘Robert Jeremiah Hermanns’. For the record: Date of Issue of my FAA Private Pilot Certificate is April 26, 1999. Took my flight test at Van Nuys Airport in a Katana DA-20, and my written at John Wayne in Orange County. Also, I’m a previous AOPA member and Piper Cherokee 140 Owner.
P.S.: I am not editing any comments…the server is being overloaded and not resolving while I’m trying approve them all with this much traffic.
Jeremy Hermanns is a creator of digital ideas, advertising executive, super affiliate, and experienced sailor/pilot. During the day he manages the Performance Marketing Division of 
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Yes Matt, I can explain Southwest’s ability to succeed in the marketplace. Herb Kelleher for one. As SWA’s founder and longtime CEO Herb set the tone early on that his employees are his number one asset and he meant it. He treats them with respect and they respect him. He pays them to go fast and to cut corners (when possible) and they do. The pilot group even bought him a new Harley for his birthday back in the ’90s (when things were going VERY well for SWA and other carriers). The current SWA CEO, I think Kelly is his name, has said in the Wall Street Journal last month that asking SWA employees to take pay cuts to save the airline money would be “a failure.” You won’t hear THAT from any other airline CEO. Well, Gordon Bethune of Continental is also supportive of his employee groups but that’s about it for supportive CEOs. Of course, if the industry really went downhill from high fuel prices or some kind of (further) economic collapse then SWA could be forced to get concessions from their labor groups but it’d be a last resort, not a first choice as it is at every other carrier.
(Management’s goal: Get as many concessions from the employees as possible (by crying “poverty” early and often) and then, when the concessions have been achieved, award the top managers huge stock-option and cash bonuses for a job “well done.” Then spin it in the media that unions are still the reason for all the airline’s problems (not stupid management decisions–NEVER that). Declare victory and then go on a 30-day vacation.)
Another aspect of Southwest’s success is a lucky gamble on fuel price hedging. They bought fuel futures at a fixed price and then when oil went to $60 a barrel SWA was locked-in at a much lower price. Smart! When their fuel hedges expire this year SWA may have to pass along the expense to their passengers in the form of higher fares. They may be able to avoid that but we’ll see.
Again, the majority of the paying public seeks the cheapest fares while only a relative few are willing to pay the extra dollars for differing levels of service or convenience, such as a direct flight rather than several stops. With incomes for union and non-union workers alike being forced down, down, down, you can’t blame people for wanting things cheap. But remember, when it comes to air safety, the airlines tend to walk a very fine line between making money (or just not spending any) and safety. If they can put-off repairing a non-essential (for safe flight) item on an airplane for several days then they will. They’d much rather send an airplane to hot weather in Mexico without a ground air-conditioning system than to take the airplane out of service to fix it. Cheaper that way. Next time you’re on the ramp in Cabo or Puerto Vallarta sweating to death because the airplane’s ground air system is busted, remember that the airline, in order to give you a cheap fare, has made the decision to put-off repairing the air system and keep the airplane in revenue service. So don’t complain about the heat inside the plane, okay?
-BB
Thanks for posting your story… regardless of the flack you got for doing it.
BB,
Right on, so you well understand the metrics of the airline business and the hedging that goes on to both keep the aircraft aloft, remain semi-solvent, and keep fares competitive.
I’m no longer flying in the MD-80 series of aircraft–period. I believe that the 737s are more survivable regardless of how poorly they’re maintained. I think Mick said the same thing earlier in the thread. As consumers, we just don’t have to get on the plane, or settle for whatever plane the airline chooses to fly. We just don’t. We can sit in the bar and “miss” our flights until a more suitable aircraft comes along. We can tell the reservations people that we simply refuse to fly on those planes. Alaska obviously isn’t going to stop flying them until people force them to do something. They should seriously look at selling those planes and leasing some newer Boeing products.
Until the Alaska fleet no longer has MD-80s in their inventory I am sticking with Southwest for all my west coast travel. It’s $15-20K a year in business and it’s now elsewhere. I don’t even want the hassle of trying to figure out what kind of fucked up plane their going to ask me to get on.
It’s only a matter of time before those things start falling from the sky.
Matt, I am not afraid to board an MD-80 or any other aircraft type. 737s, the most popular and most successful narrow-body airliner (of all time?) has had its share of design flaws that have had to be worked out. No airplane is 100% safe, just as no car is, no train, no prescription drug, no diet, no security apparatus, etc., etc. (See where I’m going?) The MD will be around as long as it can create revenue. The day the MDs, or any other type go over a certain fixed cost number they will be retired. I know Alaska is buying as many new 737 aircraft as they can get, as is Southwest. Even bankrupt carriers such as Northwest and USAir have been buying new airplanes. Again, the cost structure of the airline biz is so skewed (ticket price vs. cost of providing that seat) that downward pressure on costs will remain relentless. (Except, of course, where upper management is concerned. For their pay, bonus, and benefit programs the sky is the limit baby! As Mel Brooks said in one of his movies: “It’s good to be king.”)
Remember, you are in far more danger driving on the freeways of America than you ever will be on an airliner. Yeah, the service can be lacking and the seats crammed together, but it’s still one heck of a lot safer than just about any other mode of travel.
-BB
I’m a 20 year Flight Attendant at another airline. The flight had to be the scariest thing you’ve ever been through at that point, but you were probably never in any danger of a fatal ending.
The fear of the unknown is the worst. People will get absolutely crazy with the “what if”.
I read a lot of the posts here and felt the neeed to clarify some of the points that people made.
1)the burning smell in the cabin that occurs when the masks deploy is from the oxygen generators in the psu. It is shaped like a tomato juice can and has a heat shield on it. The shield accumulates dust on the top side. Everyone knows what the heater/furnace smells like the first time you run it.
2)F/A responding that they have not heard what’s going on. Often they do know, but don’t have the techinical info to accurately communicate what the problem is. So to stop any misunderstanding, the leave it up to the pilots to communicate over the PA.
3) there is no reason to distrust the MD-80/DC-9-80 and to prefer the 737. This accident could have happened to any aircraft. There is always a risk of an aircraft strike when you put equipment so close to the fuselage. My company does not allow the baggage carts to be placed near the a/c without using a belt loader.
In 20 years I have only had one really scary thing happen, and it turned out we were never in any danger at all. A faulty switch in the nose wheel failed to show it retracked and up-locked. Several fly-bys to the control tower gave conflicting info. The worst part about the whole experience was the adrenaline sickness that I had for the rest of the day. The actual experience never seemed real, training kicked in and we just dealt with it.
Lastly, anytime you are told that you’re returning to the airport for a problem, often there is a delay because you have to burn off fuel to reach your max-landing weight. Unless the situation is extremely dire, landing above your max landing weight could cause structural failure. Single aisle aircraft cannot “dump” fuel. The DC9, MD80, 737′s, A318,A319,A320,A321, and 757s cannot dump fuel. Just the wide body aircraft.
Air travel is still the safest way for you to travel. and Jeremy, I’m not slamming you. But for the posters who are playing LazyBoy Quarter back, there’s more to a situation that what you actually see/hear/read. Look at Air France in Toronto last summer. The F/A’s were critisized by the media for only using 4 of the 8 doors. F/A’s are trained to never open a door if they see fire. and yet they evacuated all 300+ passengers in record time.
My husband works for Menzies at Heathrow. He wasn’t even vaguely surprised. Concerned yes… surprised no. Glad you’re all ok now.
safe flight.
Alaska really needs to do something about it’s operations at SEATAC. Everytime I turn on the news it seems like they are having another incident. I just had some items stolen from my luggage at SEATAC and their response made it seem like that happens all the time. I thought something was funny after it took nearly 45 minutes for our baggage on the last leg of the flight at 11:30 PM. I’m betting the supervisors were long gone and the baggage handlers were in the back looking for some goodies to sell on E-Bay. In response to some of the union non-union posts, I have only to say that incidents and stolen baggage reports have gone up 300% since Alaska got rid of it’s union workers. To me that says alot.
Did you read about the six passengers suing Alaska Airlines for this incident? They’re suing for eardrum damage and emotional distress.
Here’s the press release:
Lawsuit Filed by Injured Passengers of Alaska Airlines Flight 536
Friday February 3, 7:00 am ET
Emergency Landing in Seattle from 26,000 Feet; Explosively Decompressing Jet Had Hole in Fuselage Caused by Ground Service Collision Prior to Take Off
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ — Six passengers of Alaska Air Flight 536, who in December suffered through a harrowing 30-minute flight after a one-foot-hole opened up in the airplane at 26,000 feet causing an explosive decompression of the cabin, today sued the airline and Menzies Aviation Group, a ground service provider. The airplane made an emergency landing in Seattle. The suit* was filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles on behalf of the passengers by the law firm Kreindler & Kreindler LLP.
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The aircraft, an MD-83 model, was being loaded for a flight from Seattle- Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) to Burbank, CA, on December 26, 2005, when it was damaged on the ground by an unreported collision with a baggage- carrying vehicle controlled and operated by Menzies, a ground service provider to several airlines, including Alaska Airlines. Soon after take off, a one- foot-long hole was ripped out of the aircraft’s fuselage as a result of the ground collision, causing an explosive and violent decompression of the plane’s cabin that resulted in the plaintiffs’ physical and emotional injuries.
“The defendants in this case negligently and carelessly disregarded and violated numerous safety procedures and training standards, and have caused these passengers — their customers — substantial injury,” said James P. Kreindler of Kreindler & Kreindler. “For this collision to go unreported prior to take off is really inexcusable, and is reflective of a troubling recent history between these two companies. This jet was not airworthy, and yet it still took off, seriously threatening the lives of all those aboard. The system terribly failed these passengers and the crew.”
Problems with Ground Operator Known to Alaska Air Prior to Flight 536 Accident
Last year, reportedly to save money, Alaska Air eliminated hundreds of unionized ground service positions at Sea-Tac, outsourcing these services to Menzies. “Alaska Air knew or should have known that Menzies was not competently handling its ground service responsibilities, and yet it continued to use the company to perform those services,” said attorney Daniel O. Rose of Kreindler. “Within four months of Alaska Air’s retention of Menzies, the operator’s ramp employees caused damage to the airline’s aircraft on at least 12 separate occasions. Employees of Menzies warned both the operator and the airline about serious training deficiencies of their ramp personnel and of the associated risks. The negligence of both companies resulting in the traumatic Flight 536 incident is quite clear.”
The plaintiffs in this suit include Mark Reveley and Emma Hellsten of Los Angeles and four others who reside in Sweden. Their injuries include eardrum damage and hearing loss, affecting their ability to work, along with substantial emotional trauma.
“Apart from their physical injuries, these passengers’ lives are profoundly changed by what they thought was their near-death experiences,” said Mr. Kreindler. “Some actually witnessed a piece of the plane flying past their windows. The cabin was in chaos, and passengers were saying their last goodbyes to loved ones. They are fortunate to have survived this flight, but many will continue to suffer serious long-term effects.”
Similarities to Landmark American Airlines Turbulence Case
The Kreindler attorneys representing the plaintiffs are Messrs. Kreindler and Rose in New York and Stuart R. Fraenkel in Los Angeles. The firm has handled thousands of aviation cases over the course of 50+ years. Among its many landmark cases, in 1999 the firm obtained the nation’s highest-ever award for emotional distress caused by turbulence for 13 passengers traumatized on American Airlines Flight 58. On June 25, 1995, the passengers of that plane experienced 30 seconds of severe turbulence as the aircraft rose and fell hundreds of feet while flying over Minnesota. The airline admitted liability. “As with Flight 58, many of the passengers of Flight 536 thought they were going to die and deserve compensation for the emotional trauma of having their lives so callously imperiled,” said Mr. Rose.
About Kreindler & Kreindler LLP
Founded in 1950, Kreindler & Kreindler LLP (http://www.kreindler.com) is internationally recognized as the first and most prominent aviation law firm in the United States. The firm has been the leading plaintiff legal counsel on thousands of aviation cases, including major ones such as the September 11 terrorist attacks, Pan Am Lockerbie Flight 103, Korean Airlines Flight 007, American Airlines Flight 587, and many cases of small private and commercial crashes. Its ranks include airplane and helicopter pilots, engineers and other technical experts. Kreindler has offices in New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles, CA. For more information, contact Mr. Rose in New York at 212- 687-8181 or Mr. Fraenkel in Los Angeles at 213-622-6469.
* Link to Complaint:
http://www.kreindler.com/news/pdf/complaint_alaska.pdf
For Tracy regarding your comment about union workers reporting damages. You don’t know how wrong you are. It’s been my experience that “dirty” employees are everywhere. They don’t report things like this everytime it happens. Trust me on this. I can’t begin to count the number of times that I’ve seen aircraft come in with damages that “mysteriously” appeared. In defense of non-union contract companies, I have to say many times they take more pride in their work than the union employees that make the big bucks. What caused the employee who hit the plane not to report it? Who knows, but it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that he wasn’t a union employee.
Wow, cool site.. I am have a built a url and need to theme it based on data ntfs recovery.My brother told me blogs require Linux skills? How true is this statement?. Thanks again, HARLAN
I sympathize with your ordeal, as anyone would in your situation, but as far as the morons cutting down Alaska…I am not dissing this guy in his story in any way….and most of the idiots that are, are most likely from the lower 48, so stay wherever you are, we don’t want you in Alaska anyway…the last time I checked…there are aircraft disasters all over the world numbnuts….
Like many I am amazed how nasty some people can be. I fly alot and even though I love it, I would have the crap scared out of me if I went through what you did. Glad you and the rest of the passengers and crew made it out alive. For those MD80 bashers, its funny how everyone has favorites. I Usually fly Southwest and the 737 but when WN is not flying where I want to go I try and fly in an MD80 or MD90 everytime. Its a great jet and I feel much more comfortable then a 737. The MD80 is quiet and smooth. Its main flaw is breaks are not quite strong enough for size of the jet. Other then that it is a great jet in my opinion
I honestly find that nothing compared to the flight I was on. Air Transat flight 236. Torobto to Lisbon. Our Airbus A330-243 ran out of fuel at 36,000 feet over the atlantic ocean and then gliding for 19 minutes wondering when (not IF but when) the plane is going to ditch into the ocean in a darkned plane at who knows what speed. Fortunaty the pilot was able to land at an airforce base in the Azores. The pilot literally glided the plane in and when we hit the tarmack the wheels burst into flames. I think your little 30 minute situation about a hole in a plane is nothing compared to what I and 293 other passengers went though.
Hi Jeremy,
Glad to hear you are ok. As for the other people that would like to belittle this incident or have nothing nice to say: why do you bother responding? Nobody cares what you have to say. If you can’t be nice, don’t write.
Geez, these responders are BRUTAL, Bet they ALL wear brown pants……
A week ago I passed up an oppurtunity to get 2 round trip tickets for giving up my seat on an AKair flight… didn’t even have anywhere I had to be.
Sweet blog.
Good on you Jeremy for surviving to tell the tale. However, it is obvious your compatriots are a bunch of whinging, not-picking, anal retentive WANKERS.
Have a great “rest of your life”.
I like your site.
Blogs with comments windows that you have to click to open keep the dialogue under wraps. Blogs like this one which string comments out in the open are much more proactive about sparking dialogue.
That must have been a scary flight. I travel all the time from Sea-Tac to Anchorage all the time on Alaska Airlines and on the MD-80′s.. I hope that does’nt happen to me like it did to you. I’m glad even though I don’t know you that everything turned out ok..
here is the full video shot after the plane dropped to 10,000 feet:
http://creation-pictures.com/creationpictures/page%202s/Alaska%20Airlines%20536.html
Well i will never forget that flight as I to was on that flight and it was terrifying because i was next to the hole myself and i still dont think the free ticket vouchers were enough to acomidate the terible happenings that happened that day. One question though are you the people who are suing alaska.
Would not fly Alaska for the world. This company has a long history of cutting corner. Just check what happens on the crash of flight 261. Lots of people who run that company should be in jail !
Congratulations for your self control and the analysis of the situation. However the fact that the baggage handler was not unionized has nothing to do with this professional mistake;Too many a times baggage handlers do damage aircrafts with trucks or baggage belts and do not report it because they know what the sanction is: Out. During the training they are told millions times to report it but human beings…
Now what about the copilot and his pre flight ground check?? He should have noticed that !
What do you do, when your are on a flight, and there are some strong turbulance?
I personally look at the hostesses faces!!
If they look calm i feel a bit reassured
Alaska airlines is a once good airline now spiraling into third world status. I am trying to retrieve some checked baggage and the employees are telling me lie after lie about its location and when they intend to actually forward it.
Now it is clear some twit somewhere in the system is deliberately witholding the bag in order to annoy me.
Pretty creepy moments.
Two more MD-80′s with smoke filled cabins within the last 3 months. Do more people have to get killed before Alaska finally gets the balls to ground these wretched planes? Eventually, if they keep flying these 15-20 year old junk planes…folks are going to die!
I feel vindicated for complaining about these suck-ass aircraft.
The “burning smell” came from the oxygen generators that are mounted in the overhead consoles and ignite when the oxygen masks are deployed.
This is how the O2 system works in an MD-80 and occurs anytime the Pax O2 masks drop in these planes.
MTB
The service ceiling of an MD-80 is 37,000 feet.
The reason non union employees is a factor here is because a few months prior to this incident AAL fired all their union bag handlers and replaced them with contract employees from and outside company.
Incidentally their mishandled bag statistics went from lowest in the industry to near the top with this move.
AAL also recently gave their pilots a 27% pay cut for no reason.
You get what you pay for in this industry.
MTB
Alaska’s firing of union employees to save a few bucks by hiring unqualified replacements is the reason for this accident. The quest for the almighty dollar by upper management has already cost lives. Remember flight 261 and lack of grease on a jack screw. How much money did they save and at what cost? You would think they would learn. Instead of trying to find productive ways to cut costs, they make unsound business decisions that will cost us all in the long run, both in ticket prices and safety. All the way giving themselves record pay raise and bonuses. That is the real reason behind your high ticket prices. That and their failure to hedge fuel costs. Inexpensive tickets are one thing, but you don’t want anyone to compromise on the cost of safety. You need the most qualified mechanics, pilots, etc. A doctor can kill one person if they make a mistake…a pilot can kill many. Don’t you want the best you can get sitting on the flight deck? One wrong turn of the wrench can mean the same thing. You get what you pay for. Tell Alaska you want the best folks available…they are worth the cost! Tell Alaska management to stop raking so much money off the top, compromiseing your saftey, raising your ticket prices and cutting the pay of hard working employees. The flying public and the hard working folks deserve better.
GOTTA STORY THAT WILL TOP EVERYBODYS; MY GRANDFATHER DAD AND UNCLES ALONG WITH ANOTHER INVESTOR A MR. DON GOODMAN WERE THE ORGINATORS OF ALASKA AIRLINES WHICH WAS ORIGINALL NAMED STAR AIRLINES; IT WAS A SUBSIDUARY OF STRANDBERG MINES INC. WE OBTAINED A VERY LUCRITIVE MAIL CONTRACT AND IN 1942 HAD IT SOLD OUT FROM UNDER US BY OUR ATTORNEY MR. WARREN CUDDY; HE USED PROCEDES TO START FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF ANCHORAGE WHICH IS STILL OPERATING TODAY; ALASKA’S TITLE IS DEFECTIVE AND FED AVIATION REGIONAL COUNSEL HAS ORDERED OUR FAMILY TO CURE THE TITLE; CASE IS JUST ABOUT READY TO BREAK OPEN
Geez- anyone who hasn’t been in a plane crash would think that stuff was lightweight. As one who has had to go down the slides into the ocean at fa’aa, I can tell you that flight mishaps are all very serious to anyone who’s been through it. Despite Hawaiian flight 481 (the fa’aa, tahiti flight I was on that overran the runway) had no serious injuries, crew members were on medical leave for up to two years, the pilot committed suicide shortly thereafter and several passengers and crew sufferred many characteristics of post traumatic stress disorder. I’ve actually been involved with some research after the fact and many of the passengers and crew have since had trouble with parts of life in general and many are now divorced. Whether any of this was a product of the accident or just life in general is hard to tell, but all of it leads one to believe that even though everyone walks away from an airline mishap unscathed, air travel by nature creates more than a normal amount of anxiety in a large number of people and so seems to have a lasting impact on a lot of people. I for one still fly without anxiety medication, but certainly my life has been drastically changed in a negative way since then as a direct result of the incident. This has been documented by licensed professionals working for both myself and for the aviation insurance underwriters.
Anyhow- anyone trying to sell you short on the immediacy of the terror of an airline mishap just doesn’t really know what they’re talking about.
Today January 06, 2007, some friends that where here in Vancouver for hollidays went back home (Mexico) and we just learned they had a similar experience, 6 hours later, the girls cant recover and are still crying, The worse part is that my mom and the rest of my family are leaving tommorrow and they are also traveling with Alaska, so we are having sencond thoughts about this airline. What do you think?
Jeremy -
I stumbled across this post and wanted to share this little nugget… The last two times I’ve taken an Alaska Airlines flight from Anchorage to Chicago there were near misses at O’Hare. Both times we were literally 2 seconds from landing, at best 20 feet from touch down and the planes(both) had to immediately pull up and circle around again. I hate to lay this all on Alaska Air, as I’m sure the traffic control at OHare was just as (if not more) responsible. I thought the first time was a fluke, the second time has convinced me to never take that flight again no matter the cost. Also, Alaska Airlines ‘leases’ the American Air ticket counter at OHare and the part-time Alaska Airlines clerks are total jerks, the counter is only open 1 1/2 hours before the flight so don’t ever try to check in early and hang out, you’ll get stuck on the curb.
Me impresiona saber el autocontrol que tuviste durante la descompresión así como la idea de tomar las fotos; soy estudiante para tripulante de cabina y lo que tú viviste es para lo que nos preparan. Me alegra saber que todo salió bien. Gracias por publicarlo.
Usefull information and all is good arranged. glucometer
haha wanker
Thank god your still alive buddy. Hope this does not effect your over all pucker factor.
I would never fly with Alasaka Airlines they let 88 people dye. Just read about the Alaska Airlines flight 261
Herrmans, glad to see your post about the incident. I’m also glad that Alaska Airlines has retired it’s outdated MD-80s. High-Five for all photos.
P.S. To all ye nit-pickers about the phones: Cell phones have no effect on an airplane whatsoever, the flight crew tells you to turn them off, not because of safety reasons, but because there is no point in having them on, they don’t pick up signals, or send signals. In some flights (below the clouds) some cell phones do work. Just an FYI…
Came by this kinda late, I guess, but glad you’re ok. My sympathies to whoever does your laundry.
Personally, I quit trusting the damned things when they took the propellers off. ;^)
My father owned an airplane before he owned a car. Also a former business partner of Paul Mantz, a test pilot for Boeing, a builder of clip-wing pylon racers, who had his own aircraft maintenance business, I guess you could say I grew up “around” planes, anyway.
I had logged nearly 100,000 commercial passenger miles before I reached my 11th birthday, and later spent 18 years working in the aerospace industry. As a consultant to General Electric I helped them develop manufacturing methods used on some of their engines. They were pleased enough with my work, they hired me to teach some of this to their people at the re-building facility in Ontario, Ca., and later to some of their customers like Delta, Lufthansa, Pakistan Int’l Airlines, and a few others around the world.
No CAPT X, I am not a pilot. I have so far managed to “steal” maybe 4-5 hours of stick time, thru various means, like “Gee whiz! That sure looks hard!”, or “Is there a reason the left wing has been down about 8 inches the last 30 minutes?” and when all these failed, I simply begged. I guess that just doesn’t compare with the experience, or the thrill, you get trolling blogs, belittling others.
I do feel a bit cheated though on another matter. In 50 years of being in airplanes, I’ve yet to ride in one where they provided altimeters at each seat (GG must must have an uncle in baggage handling). Besides, they use the same size styrofoam cup to pick you up whether you fall from 29,000 or 30,000 feet. (Jesus some people need a life away from their keyboard!)
That said, hardly anything compares to the terror you feel, as a passenger, when something goes wrong in the air. And yes, “a little knowledge is dangerous”. Having additional skills or experience only makes the helplessness seem worse, because you can’t do much with it, as a passenger.
I do know a bit about how airplanes are put together, though, and for all the people who posted the Alaska commercials/apologies I gotta say, it changes nothing. Because all the certifications, inspections, maintenance programs, and life cycle studies… it’s all just paperwork, and none of it can prevent some idiot backing into the plane, quietly saying, “Oops.” and driving away.
To quote my father,
“You can design anything to be idiot proof; but nobody can design anything jack-ass proof.”
That happend to me once. I was on a MD-80 from Rehjavik to London and we were about 30 minutes from The coast of Ireland and the maskes came down after a terrible Boom. This all happened in the middle of the night when it was apparently raining outside at the time and We Leveled off in the clouds i guess so it got really cold in the plane for the next 40 minutes to Glasgow were we would have an emergency landing.
Because there is a KNOWN FLAW of the jack screw on DC 9′s and MD 80′s don’t fly on these aircraft.
Jeremy, I would probablby have crapped my shorts at least a couple of times in your situation. I really feel bad at how ignorant some people can be. After saying that I know that there are people that would love to lead a witch hunt against Alaska Airlines. I don’t profess to know much about planes, baggage handling etc. As an employer, I realize how diffcult it is to find quality staff, especially where I live in the Province of Alberta. I also know that people are human, and are prone to mishaps. If someone unknowingly hit the plane (which I really doubt) then one has to presume that no one was the wiser and the plane was alowwed to take off. If the baggage handler had known he had hit the plane, then he is a fool for not telling anyone. It says something about the caliber of the work force today and the ltotal lack of ethical honesty and labour pool that we have to choose from. Not all of this is upper managements fault. No large business can operate without a labour force and the pickings are getting slim. Don’t even get me started on unions – I’m a contractor that has deal directly with unions and let me tell you, I’ve never seen anyone cost so much money and do so little while complaining the most about the job. This country was not built by unions, it was built by people who weren’t afraid to break a sweat once in a while. Saying that, with the low fares that we as the public are demanding and the nickel and diming that we do, you are going to get what you pay for. Most of the time things are okay, but every once in while things really go haywire. Which brings me to me last point. People will fail, mechanical things fail, and if you think that is ever going to change, you are wrong. Make every day count and make sure evry day above ground is a good one. I’ve got to go now and book some flights with Alsaka Airlines!
Why are the cabin crew not using PBE’s (Personal Breathing Equipment) if it was a De-Pressurisation?
see it’s very define,your one of a kin. Piet Nirvana.
oh,when you took my arm, that’s when we fell apar. Joey Hadassah.
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