June 1, 2014 won't be the date on our (Chris, Kellisa and Laurel) headstones!
Somewhere over Baltimore and BWI
Maryland
I was hoping to write a post about our awesome weekend in Connecticut and Rhode Island, but an eventful flight home changed the order of my posts. I'm not a pilot or aviation expert, so I have no idea what the actual risk factor was last night, but I know it was more than normal and I perceived it to be real along with the flight attendants and every adult on the plane. If perception is reality, then the fear last night was real.
It was our last segment from Baltimore to Jacksonville. We had our usual spot in the front row, left side as you board. I gave Kellisa her nighttime medication while the plane was boarded. Both girls listened to their ipods. As with every other flight, the girls enjoyed the take-off. However, I did notice it felt a little funny, but didn't think too much about it.
The plane leveled out almost immediately. I could tell that we were low. I told myself that the pilots were just flying around some weather. "We just passed 10,000ft. and it's safe to use your electronic devices", announcement was never made on this flight.
The plane made a right turn and leveled off for a few minutes before making another right turn. I watched the same sights pass below us as we circled Baltimore. As this continued, I could tell that the flight attendants were starting to get a little nervous. I think most of the people on board just thought we were on our way to Jacksonville.
I really started to get nervous when we flew over water for a considerable distance. I knew we were dumping fuel. After our flight over water, we returned to our circles above Baltimore. After almost 90 minutes into a flight that was suppose to be 2 hours, the captain came on with his first and only update on the situation.
He explained that one of the flaps was stuck in the wrong position which was creating significant drag. He went on to say that it prevented the plane from reaching it's cruising altitude and that it wasn't safe to fly to Jacksonville. He announced that we would be returning to Baltimore.
Kellisa was sleeping by this point (it was 9:30pm) and I had my arms protectively wrapped around both girls. I know it wouldn't do much, but it made me feel better. The plane was completely silent as I'm sure most of the passengers started praying and reflecting. Except for Laurel, who was still rocking out to her ipod.
We were told to make sure our seat belts were on tight and secure. I checked all three of ours. I wasn't too afraid of the worst happening. Except for the fear leading up to it which I was already starting to live, it would be fast and painless. Losing both parents to cancer and watching Everett and Kirsten, I knew there was worse, a lot worse.
For a few moments, my thoughts went to Lisa who was at home.
Then I had the even more horrifying thought. What if we needed to do an emergency evacuation from the plane? I was alone with both girls. The best idea I could think of was to make sure Laurel got off the plane and then I would tell her to run as fast and far away as possible while she stayed close to everyone else while not worrying about me and Kellisa. I would then be free to throw Kellisa over my shoulder as we slide off the plane before running away ourselves.
We were coming in for the landing faster and a little rougher than usual. I was watching out the window and thought for sure we were going to crash into the trees. When a plane lands, you can see the runway and it's lights for a few seconds before the wheels touch down. This did not happen during this landing. We touched down before I ever saw a light or the concrete of the runway. Then I could see dozens of fire and rescue vehicles and ambulances out the window. I looked out the other side and saw a similar line of emergency response vehicles.
Shortly after the wheels touched the concrete, the plane quickly slows down on routine landings. This was not the case for our landing. We kept racing down the runway. Again, I'm not a pilot, so I can only describe what the stopping felt like. It seemed like the pilot was "tapping" the brakes or possibly alternating the flaps from one side to the other as we jerked down the runway. It got to the point where I was worried the plane would run out of space on the runway.
The plane finally came to a stop and everyone on board started clapping and cheering. There were some tears of relief shed as well. As the plane made the turn to the terminal, I could see out our window that we were at the very end of the runway.
When we got to the gate, the captain made another announcement that he troubleshooted the problem for as long as he could without finding a resolution. He went on to say he needed to dump as much fuel as possible because he knew we would come down fast and that it would be difficult to stop the plane. He explained that he needed the plane to be as light as possible.
The pilot ended the message with, "the plane was always under control and you were never in any danger".
"That's easy to say now", was my first thought followed by, "it would have been nice to have that reassurance while we were in the air".
The gate agent in Baltimore boarded the plane and told us to proceed to B4 where another plane was waiting for us. This whole process took another 90 minutes. I had thought about getting a hotel and driving home the next day or booking a flight for later the following day. In the end, I decided that we would take the flight from B4 and get home as soon as possible.
Laurel fell asleep shortly after our 2nd take off from Baltimore, but Kellisa fought sleep for the entire flight. 2 hours later we landed in Jacksonville and the same pilots received another round of cheers. Another hour later and we were home, it was after 2am.
I don't know and may never know how much danger we were actually in, but it was a very intense and scary 90 minutes in the air. I've been trying to think about it and I would guess that I've flown at least 1,500 flights and this was only the 7th time I was really scared. It was the 2nd time I was scared with Kellisa and 1st with Laurel.
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