Have a glass of wine. Deep breath. There...isn't that better?

The line about their "job is to fly the plane, not explain technicalities to passengers" was the last line of "previous poster" named CW in the post titled: "Fun with Airlines!"

You wrote: "Please don't use quotation marks to refer to comments I never made. Such behavior in a public forum makes you appear ignorant and unable to communicate effectively or concisely."

While I so appreciate your insightful observations, can I offer some of my own? I suggest that you also read through an entire thread before getting upset -- and perhaps you should also commit to memory the definition of "previous" (fyi, it's going before in time or order, existing or occurring before something else in time or order) -- before you start tossing around accusations of ignorance, or inability to communicate effectively or concisely.

Oh, and some unsolicited career advice -- given your temperament, there's an airline job just waiting for you!! Maybe they'll even make you a Customer Service Manager!! :-)

Yes, it's no news that airlines lie to passengers. I was once on a flight to Houston where I was to make a connecting flight (the only one that day) and the plane was 2 hours late, having sat on the ground at LAX. No reason given. The counter lackey said I wouldn't get comped for a room because the flight was delayed for WEATHER. The weather in LA, while we sat on the ground, was clear and sunny. Do they think I'm an idiot? They think the American public will buy anything they say. Of course I lost it and they comped me a room.

Patrick Smith could have a new career as consultant to airlines for sensitivity training and in communicating in a clear, accurate, and understandable way. That is, if the airlines cared.

I have flown on commercial type aircraft in combat situations where we had to really take the plane way beyond what any airline would allow their staff to do and the planes worked just fine. For example, flying above tree tops and under 5000 feet is a deady place to be - you want to be as high as possible as fast as possible - it is a "fun" ride.

That being said, I still get that scared feeling for a few seconds when things happen which are out of the ordinary. Since I have an aircraft engineering background the feeling soon subsides and I get on with life, but I can easily understand how "normal" people can get scared out of their wits, especialy when non-technical cabin staff try to explain something which is scary looking, but technically safe.

About that too hot to fly problem. A cargo airline which shall remain nameless, bid too high a cargo weight for a military contract at an airport at 5500 altitude. During the summer, they could fly empty birds in all day, but none could take off until after the sun went down and the air over the runway got cool enough. They also had to have about 20 minutes between planes so the air over the runway would recool after the exhaust from the planes. Luckily the runway was slightly higher than the surrounding area so the planes could just clear the outside fence and slowly gain altitude without running into anything. I suspect the airline lost money because their birds sat on the ground so long.

While I now try to avoid flying in the US at all, up until recently I flew United 300,000-miles-plus per year.

Usually I travelled with a Yellow Lab, boarded as cargo, and would make a point of going up to the cockpit to ensure that the pilot was aware that the dog was onboard and that the hold heater would be appropriately toasty.

I'd ask whether he would be offering Channel 9 to passengers. This is United's ATC listen-in channel to radio communications. Most would, but a couple were downright hostile to the idea. Their objection was along the lines of, "Don't want to be sued by frightened passengers."

The most enthusiastic cap'n, however, was on a 777. After getting us up and level and dispensing with the usual banter, he announced that he was going to give a short lecture on flying generally and the 777 in particular. This guy was a Boeing exec's wetdream. For a half hour he described the commercial flight route system, air traffic control, and why the 777 was the aerospace equivalent of the Holy Grail.

Feast or Famine. Always the way.

Thirty-six years ago, I took my very first plane ride. We were bound for Dallas, which was in the grip of an ice storm. We we approaching the runway, gear down, but nothing could be seen out my window. Suddenly the plane nosed forward and started descending faster. I thought, "oh, we're still high up." Then, the nose wheel hit the ground, and every passenger's head hit the seat in front of them. The nose jumped up, and the rear wheels hit and we bounced into the air. The engines roared to life, and we swiveled left and right for a few moments and then came down hard, rear wheels more-or-less first. The reverse thrusters came on immediately, and we skidded down the runway, twisting left and right. (It was exactly like being on the bridge of the starship Enterprise as it takes fire from the evil alien vessel; we all listed from side to side in unison, grasping our seat arms.)

We came to a stop in short order. Utter silence. Then the captain comes on the PA and says in a southern drawl, "Sorry about that rough landing folks; the autopilot thought we were a little higher than we actually were. Hope you have a nice..."

I was frightened at the time, and could barely make myself board my connecting flight, but the captain was so calm and matter-of-fact, I managed to chalk it up to common blooper. In the years since, I have never heard of a plane actually bouncing completely off the runway and landing safely. Was I in a near disaster, or just another run-of-the-mill bad weather landing?

Thanks,

Wayne Allen