A Story of epic failure : My adventure from Seattle to Honolulu. PART ONE
Read it all.
If you didn't know, the Northwest is going through one of the worst snow storms in decades.
I just had to have plans to fly out just when the storm hit...
So I finished finals on Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday to cruise till I left on Saturday for home!
All went well, and on Saturday, Aaron and I took a bus to the airport. I thought this would be the most troublesome part of the whole trip, as we had to transfer buses and such.
Luckily the bus ride went smoothly, and we arrived at the airport a few hours early.
We go through security and check-in fine, and head to our gate. We grab some food to tide us over until dinner, and soon we board. I find my seat, which is nicely situated between two Punahou graduates. (What are the odds of that? :P)
As everyone was getting seated, the pilot comes on the intercom and informs us that the plane needs to be de-iced, so the plane doesn't get weighed down by the falling snow. He then says that the a/c will be shut down during the time so the solution doesn't get into the vents, although some may still seep in. "But don't worry!" He said, "The fumes are non-toxic, and smell like maple syrup on pancakes."
Really? Does it now?
So they de-ice the plane, and it proceeds out toward the runway. During this time, I fall asleep, and when I wake up the plane is still moving. I assumed it was still moving toward the runway, but Aaron tells me that we are heading back toward the gate.
WHAT? GATE!? WHY??
Apparently there were other airplanes taking off before us, and we had to wait for them to take off. They took so long that by the time our turn came around, we needed another layer of de-icing solution on the plane, so we headed back to the gate to get another layer sprayed on.
But the de-icing trucks also had a waiting line of airplanes. There were airplanes getting de-iced before ours, so we had to wait.
We had to wait over four hours.
OVER FOUR HOURS.
I sat on that seat for over four hours straight. That wouldn't be too bad if I was in that seat on a flight heading to Honolulu. But no, I was sitting on that seat on a plane that wasn't moving, on the gound, at SeaTac Airport. Mind you, it takes about 5 hours to get from SeaTac to Honolulu. I was on that plane for almost as long as our flight would have been, but we didn't go anywhere.
So about the fourth hour in, a flight attendent comes on the intercom and says, "I know some of you have been sitting for quite awhile," (Nooo really?) "so we will open the door for a second and people can leave the aircraft." At this point people were considering leaving to walk around a bit, or grab food. "BUT," she says, "if we get the good to go from the tower, we will close the gates whether or not you are back, and we will leave you." HAHA. At this point the passengers laughed, amused at the fact that a person would exit the airplane, only to turn around a second later and potentially see the plane flying away.
Needless to say, no one wanted to risk it and leave, so everyone just stayed on the plane.
We figured that we've been waiting for over four hours, we must be going somewhere soon, because they would never make us sit around for four hours if progress wouldn't be made...
...sadly, we were wrong. Shortly after the flight attendent's announcement, the pilot came on the intercom. He announced that the de-icing trucks were here (there was much rejoycing) although since it took so long (over four hours...) for the trucks to get here, the weather conditions worsened, and made it unable for the plane to take off safely.
SO the flight was delayed till tomorrow at 11:30a.
I figured that spending one night sleeping at the airport won't be too bad. I mean, Tom Hank's character in The Terminal did it for months, so I can probably do it for a night.
Sadly, I'm not as amazing as Tom Hanks.
He makes things look so much more fun and easy than they actually are...
END OF PART ONE.
If you didn't know, the Northwest is going through one of the worst snow storms in decades.
I just had to have plans to fly out just when the storm hit...
So I finished finals on Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday to cruise till I left on Saturday for home!
All went well, and on Saturday, Aaron and I took a bus to the airport. I thought this would be the most troublesome part of the whole trip, as we had to transfer buses and such.
Luckily the bus ride went smoothly, and we arrived at the airport a few hours early.
We go through security and check-in fine, and head to our gate. We grab some food to tide us over until dinner, and soon we board. I find my seat, which is nicely situated between two Punahou graduates. (What are the odds of that? :P)
As everyone was getting seated, the pilot comes on the intercom and informs us that the plane needs to be de-iced, so the plane doesn't get weighed down by the falling snow. He then says that the a/c will be shut down during the time so the solution doesn't get into the vents, although some may still seep in. "But don't worry!" He said, "The fumes are non-toxic, and smell like maple syrup on pancakes."
Really? Does it now?
So they de-ice the plane, and it proceeds out toward the runway. During this time, I fall asleep, and when I wake up the plane is still moving. I assumed it was still moving toward the runway, but Aaron tells me that we are heading back toward the gate.
WHAT? GATE!? WHY??
Apparently there were other airplanes taking off before us, and we had to wait for them to take off. They took so long that by the time our turn came around, we needed another layer of de-icing solution on the plane, so we headed back to the gate to get another layer sprayed on.
But the de-icing trucks also had a waiting line of airplanes. There were airplanes getting de-iced before ours, so we had to wait.
We had to wait over four hours.
OVER FOUR HOURS.
I sat on that seat for over four hours straight. That wouldn't be too bad if I was in that seat on a flight heading to Honolulu. But no, I was sitting on that seat on a plane that wasn't moving, on the gound, at SeaTac Airport. Mind you, it takes about 5 hours to get from SeaTac to Honolulu. I was on that plane for almost as long as our flight would have been, but we didn't go anywhere.
So about the fourth hour in, a flight attendent comes on the intercom and says, "I know some of you have been sitting for quite awhile," (Nooo really?) "so we will open the door for a second and people can leave the aircraft." At this point people were considering leaving to walk around a bit, or grab food. "BUT," she says, "if we get the good to go from the tower, we will close the gates whether or not you are back, and we will leave you." HAHA. At this point the passengers laughed, amused at the fact that a person would exit the airplane, only to turn around a second later and potentially see the plane flying away.
Needless to say, no one wanted to risk it and leave, so everyone just stayed on the plane.
We figured that we've been waiting for over four hours, we must be going somewhere soon, because they would never make us sit around for four hours if progress wouldn't be made...
...sadly, we were wrong. Shortly after the flight attendent's announcement, the pilot came on the intercom. He announced that the de-icing trucks were here (there was much rejoycing) although since it took so long (over four hours...) for the trucks to get here, the weather conditions worsened, and made it unable for the plane to take off safely.
SO the flight was delayed till tomorrow at 11:30a.
I figured that spending one night sleeping at the airport won't be too bad. I mean, Tom Hank's character in The Terminal did it for months, so I can probably do it for a night.
Sadly, I'm not as amazing as Tom Hanks.
He makes things look so much more fun and easy than they actually are...
END OF PART ONE.