We went to our new gate to board our new plane and it was late. Every board showed delayed, so something crazy was going on somewhere. The crew and I board the plane, go through the pre-board checklist and start to re-board passengers. We takeoff with no problems. After we reach 10,000 feet I jump up and start to pass out peanuts. I get three rows of peanuts passed out when the captain calls the flight attendants. Normally this occurs when he is going to request the FAs sit down due to turbulence. I stop passing out peanuts and head to my seat, in anticipation. Right then the captain comes on the intercom and says that we have a ‘Main Gear Warning Light’ and that we are returning to
Now there are precious few things that you don’t want to go wrong on an aircraft. Almost every system on a passenger airplane in the
Thankfully all the readings in the cockpit showed that the gear was functioning properly and that the light was faulty, but those were some intense minutes. The other thing that was odd was that the flight crew knew that the system was operating as normal, but the passengers were not informed of anything other than a warning light. The FA stated that for the most part the less the passengers know the easier it is to handle any situations that arise. I found that very interesting.
Well we landed at Hobby without incident. We then transferred our passengers back to the original plane that we had left at the old gate and headed on our way to Love field. I was originally irked that we were taking off late. After our incident it made me ignore the fact that I was getting home 2.5 hours later than scheduled and glad to know that I work for an airline that values the safety of passengers so much that they don’t ignore warning lights just to get a flight on time or make money.
8 comments:
Eee, how scary! I am glad that you got home safe, even though it was late.
DOOD! That is awesome! After it is all said and done IFEs (In Flight Emergencies) which that wasn't really one, but close, are pretty cool! You get to tell cool stories like that.
But I am confused...I knew you could fly standby and stuff but I had no idea they would put you on as crew...or even let you pass out peanuts. That's cool too! I have got to get on a flight with you just so you can serve me peanuts. :-)
Kilroy was here!
PS: These are getting rediculous (jxkliudp)
I agree with you that comment verification is getting toooooo looooonnng so I am going to turn it off and just try to moderate the old fashion way!
J
Our planes are configured to hold four in-flight crew members. We only fly with three so the fourth jumpseat is open to employees only. It is first come first serve. At SWA we value serving each other internally as customers so I always volunteer to hand out the peanuts on the flights and love to do it.
J
I want some of your peanuts! Just kidding. :-)
I think that as far as passengers are concerned, it's probably best that SWA, and other airlines I imagine, use an ignorance is bliss policy. All you need is for the crew to announce exactly what the problem is and have someone who gets anxious easily to have a heart attack...once you're up there it's not like you can do anything anyway.
i feel like i need to take a flight somewhere...everyone is having these "safe-scary" experiences that sound so cool when you tell them! glad all was safe.
It's really fun when the plane is taking off, and the nose is already off the ground and then you hear the engines slow down and the nose comes back down....not that I dealt with that at the start of an 8 hour flight once or anything.
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