The international flights I was on last week were very good. On time, mostly comfortable, uneventful. It was the two domestic connections that were problematic. I mentioned yesterday the return flight (Las Vegas to Los Angeles) was delayed for a few hours. My arrival a week earlier (Los Angeles to Las Vegas) was a little scary.
The flight (Delta Airlines) was on time as we boarded and headed out to the runway. Then the plane stopped. Our pilot told us there was a "ground stop" at the Las Vegas airport. No flights allowed to land, no flights allowed to take off. We were stuck on the ground and probably headed back to the gate. After a few minutes, the pilot let us know that we were granted an exception and would be allowed to take off. And so we did, for our thirty minute flight to Las Vegas.
The pilot came on again to tell us that the primary runway at LAS was closed and that we'd be using a shorter runway. The landing might be a little rough. We had descended into our landing approach and were just about to touch down when the plane pulled up suddenly into a very steep climb. The engines roared to gain speed. It felt almost as if we were in a rocket ship blasting off. We continued to climb, almost vertically, for what seemed an eternity. This is it, I thought, we're done for. After a while the plane leveled off and we banked around for a second attempt at landing. The plane hit the runway hard and the reverse thrusters came on full. We were all pitched forward in our seats (this is why seat backs need to be up for take off and landing). Then suddenly all went quiet and we were safely landed and taxiing to the terminal as if nothing had happened.
That was my first ever experience with a "go around," as it's called in aviation parlance. The pilot was not satisfied with his approach to the shorter runway and decided to try again.
It turned out that the ground stop was initiated because a Frontier Airlines jet caught fire landing at Las Vegas. The fire was quickly extinguished and nobody was hurt, but traffic in and out of Las Vegas was interrupted for a time. Except for us.
Try it in a small ‘plane! Years ago when I was learning to fly, that was part of the training. Stay cool. Bet you’ve had a great breakaway with your cousins though! Tasha and Ken will be delighted to greet you home. Pats🚜
ReplyDeleteHappy Blog-i-versary! Glad you're ok after that LV "go around" landing scare. Flying just isn't what it used to be.
ReplyDeleteAny landing you can walk away from, is a great landing.
ReplyDeleteNo much fun. Years ago when my Mum and I were travelling from Rhodesia to the UK when we had to stop to refuel! Yes that was a long time ago. After refuelling we were about to take off when the pilot slammed on all 'brakes' and we slid to a stop just at the end of the runway. He was not happy with the plane there was a problem! Some 7 hours later we were told we could get back on the flight all was now OK. At least half of the people refused to go on that plane, we thought they were daft as obviously the flight was now as safe as any flight was going to be. We arrived at Heathrow with no more complications but the sudden stop was a little scary!! Cheers Diane
ReplyDeleteYowzer! What a way to shake up some passengers, eh? Good reason for seatbelts, too.
ReplyDeleteCutesy patootsy photo of you with the cousins up there! And, happy blogiversary!
What a mess in Las Vegas. Glad no one was hurt. I’ve experienced a number of those oops-let’s-try-this-again landings! LA to Las Vegas is known for rough entries, especially on the short runway. You usually have turbulence over the mountains and then have to come down fast. We once took three times to land in Denver from San Francisco in a lightning storm. First time was weather related. Second time, there was another plane on the runway. The pilot was furious. Third time was the charm. As my Oklahoma cousins would say “Yay howdy!”
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