Sunset Over Harrisburg

Question: If you are flying non-stop from Nashville TN to Newark NJ, why would you find yourself on the ground in Harrisburg PA? Answer: Because the plane ran out of fuel making Figure 8s over Canada. Duh.

When flying into Newark on a Friday, one should never get their hopes up for an uncomplicated day. As we were finally boarding the plane, 4 hours later than originally ticketed, the pilot leaned out into the jetway to  shout out to the baggage handler "Never mind that letter to HR. We're not going through with it." There seemed to me to be an excessive amount of rolling back and forth and extremely sharp turns going on during the flight. I can't help wondering if the two things were related?

Also, how big is the circle of a holding pattern? Would it cover an area that included both Three Mile Island and the St Lawrence Seaway? Because I saw them both.

The flight crew on this trip was particularly interesting.  The stewardess was an older gal who was wearing a ton of clown-type makeup and a pair of cranky pants. When one passenger was reciting a litany of reasons why it was unfair that we were on the ground in Harrisburg without any kind of refueling activity going on, she returned a response one for one: Maybe you should write to Continental. Maybe you should write to Harrisburg airport. Maybe you should write to the fuel truck. That last one was particularly creative. This kind of healthy back-and-forth with the customers is probably what keeps her from breaking out with hemorrhoids and lawsuits.

Interesting Fact #1: if you could roll down the windows on a plane, you could reach out and touch the cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant as you approach the Harrisburg airport.

Interesting Fact #2: Wheels up time does not, as you might naively take it, mean the time that the wheels no longer make contact with the runway. It means in modern terms the time that a plane moseys on out to the runway and then takes a rest.

Long story short, my day of adventure had me back in Newark only 6 hours later than scheduled and all that was left to irritate me was the usual conveyor belt jam at Baggage Claim, the noxious Terminal A ladies room and an ignoramus idling a diesel-powered pick-up truck which poisoned the respiratory systems of  weary travelers on the sidewalk.

My reward for this aggravating day was a sight that I consider most pleasing. There are some weather conditions that cause Newark to shut down all but one runway and that was the case last night. All arrivals came in from the south and paralleled the Turnpike. As you are driving home, you see the planes bursting out of the clouds, one after the other at equal distances, timed to land two minutes apart. Its so beautiful you can almost hear majestic background music swelling up. It's the only time I wish the ride home was longer. I always try to get the cab drivers worked up about it, but their reactions is lukewarm at best. 12 lanes of bumper-to-bumper car traffic alongside a steady stream of  nose-to-tail jet plane traffic, in a counter current flow, surrounded by tank farms and the bright lights of the cogeneration power plant.

All that advanced civilization! How lucky we are to be in the here and now. It's not perfect but it sure is awesome. Damn straight.

Comments

[dogette]

What a great post. I really enjoyed it.

[Erica]

I, too, enjoyed it.

I need to send you the photo of the sunrise I took from the far end of the Continental terminal, looking out onto both Newark and the NYC skyline.

Zonker - who called me that morning while I was waiting to board for SAT - said, after I told him of the panoramic view I had, "Ain't pollution wonderful?"

It sure is.

[Joan of Argghh!]

Nice to have you back! We are expecting more dog pics forthwith.

[Teresa]

Ah, your trips sound suspiciously like mine. Although I will say, Southwest was the best delay I've had for quite a while. Only one in ages where I didn't feel like strangling the entire lot of airline employees by the end of the night. *grin*

[The Proprietor]

Next time you are in H-burg, get out. You can rent a car and be home in less time, plus you get to drive by the Disciples of Yahweh, the Bandit Truck Stop, Amphitheatre and Discount Shearling Outlet, the World's Biggest Cabela's, the Roadside America Miniature Village, the Strohs Brewery and the place where the Keebler Elves live.

Or you just call my sister and she'd take you out for dinner at the Amish Farmer's Market, home of 100 forms of ham.