First I want to start this story off by saying "I FRAKING HATE FLYING!!!!"

Now to get home from Atlanta I fly to Vancouver with a layover in Dallas Texas.
When we board our plane, in DFW, I notice the ashtrays are still installed in the
plane. Of course I assume its fairly old. When I sit in my seat I notice the plane
engine has a louder than normal huge whistle, and there is a constant banging
noise coming from it. Further more the flight was delayed by about a half an hour,
which we spent sitting on the plane, because the pilot from the last flight
noticed a "clicking" noise from the gears. This had to be fixed by opening
the nose cone and lubing a gear. Of course this doesn't help my fear of flying.

Now just as we are about to take off, we were next in line for take off,
I notice two, about four inch, cracks in the wing. I hit the stewardess call button
to ask if that's normal. She comes by and tells me "its the flaps (Like I am retarded)
and its normal." I tell her its not the flaps its a damn crack in the wing. She rolls her eyes
and says "okay" and leaves.

The first thing that happens is they send back the marshal on our plane to make sure
I am not trying to be mischievous and wants me to show him the crack. When he finally
notices it he gets the look of "oh shit" on his face and has to go get the co-pilot.

After the Co-Pilot looks at it they both agree that the plane has to be over looked by Maintenance.
I am told its probably just a crack in the paint, but it still has to be looked at.
At this point I am totally feeling like an ass because I have now caused a hold up in the flight
due to a crack in the paint.

Maintenance comes by to look at it, and has the pilot put the flaps in the down position. He then
runs a screw driver over the paint like he is trying to peel some up. He then has the pilot raise
the flaps and states its a crack in the paint. They need a second opinion, maybe it requires two
peoples okay, but they have a second guy come to look at it. The second person again has the
flaps put down, he examines the "cracked paint" and pulls out his pocket knife and stuffs the blade
right into the crack. Lets just say I wasn't happy to see the blade get eaten by cracked "Paint."
Apparently there were two cracks right in the steel of the plane, and if we'd have taken off
there was a good chance the panel could have come off and get eaten in the engine.

To make a long story short they retired the plane, and delayed us another hour to find us another plane.....


I HATE FLYING!!!!
but they did let me ride first class, and gave me all the free booze and snacks I wanted for
the rest of the trip.....

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If you accept pocket lint as a currency well I'll take it all!

Wow man!

Glad to hear that you were given a different palne despite the delay- and that you made it home safe!

Man!


Kevin

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

Holy Crap!!! Damn dude, good thing you got sharp eyes!!

First Class was the least they could do!!

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USCM- The Colonial Marines- A Brotherhood of Bad Asses!

Wouldn't have been Northwest (Technically Delta now) you were flying with, would it?

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Sgt A. Richardson CMD A04/TQ1.0.02151E1

Holy crap... good for you for having sharp eyes!

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CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen

every person on that plane should have thanked you and bought you a drink! You saved everyone's life. Good Job Marine

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p = plenty

Steady on now. There is no solid proof of that. Lets not get too sensationalist.
Yes there was a crack, but the potential results were merely presupposed, not definate.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I'm an aviation enthusiast and my fellow fans and I get rather tired of sensationalist claims toward incidents on aircraft.

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Sgt A. Richardson CMD A04/TQ1.0.02151E1

I do agree, we fly Hornets with all sorts of cracks in minor places, if its safe we let it go, if not we down it and repair or stop drill it. If its a stress area its hard down. If those things can fly off with cracks and do mid to hi-g manuevers and not feel it, then I don't think passenger liners are going to have much. But if it was on the flap I can see it being a problem. Bah, I guess civilian planes do need some hardcore maintenance for once As you can tell Airframes are my dig

But regardless man, thats an outstanding catch to make, during final checks I'm standing next to the airframe looking and you caught it from inside. Bravo Zulu!

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"The worth and value of a man is in his heart and his will; there lies his real honor. Valor is the strength, not of legs and arms, but of heart and soul..." -Michel de Montaigne

Wow, Cooter -- well spotted and I'm glad they showed their appreciation by sending you first class. Well done that man.
Looks like both you and Kevin had trips you won't forget in a hurry!

Great find "eagle-eye". I'm glad they at least upgraded you.

But, to be honest that crack was probably there for a long time. ALL aircraft have some minor cracks, dents, and missing rivets. That is what speed tape is for. I should know, I'm a mechanic for AA.
George

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www.TimeslipCreations.com

Good eye.
So when are you going to try parachuting?

Mike

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There is nothing more impressive than a bloody big Alien wiggling on the end of a sharp stick!

I don't feel like I saved anyone, although I did get quite a few "Thank You" on the plane.
In all actuality we'd have probably been fine, but like I said I hate flying and this makes
me a bit more paranoid.

The only reason it really brought up some concern is the two cracks were surrounding
a gear/connection point for the flap and if they'd have connected, which they were spreading towards each other,
that's when the panel would have come off.

That would have been maximum suck......

Though it did get me free booze.......(like I really needed anymore after the weekend)
but hell I'll take it....


It was American Airlines



Mike have you ever heard the expression "Why would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good aircraft?"
After this last weekend I don't believe in such a thing. If they let me use my parachute as a carry on
I'd go and learn how...
In all seriousness I have a hole in my left eardrum and I was told that parachuting is not the best idea
for someone that has that problem.

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If you accept pocket lint as a currency well I'll take it all!

Of course, I forgot they still fly MD82 and 83s.

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Sgt A. Richardson CMD A04/TQ1.0.02151E1

Yikes! Glad you made it home safe despite the drama!

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Good catch! They should have at least given you some free drink coupons.

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Mark
"Memento mori"
"Guess she don't like the cornbread either."

Yeah it was a
MD80, but they called it a Super 80.

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If you accept pocket lint as a currency well I'll take it all!

The aviation maintainer in me wants to kick whoever did the pre-flight inspection on that bird right square in the balls Good find, man. Ten bucks says whoever signed your aircraft "Safe for Flight" that day is looking for another job!

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CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

I hate flying too! With a passion. Not just the flying. I hate the lines, the seats on the planes, the hauling around airports, the lines, the frowning faces in every direction, and general "herd the cattle into the pen" attitudes many of the airline employees have. Not all of em.

My wife and I flew to Vegas recently and I had to take xanax for the claustrophobia (I don't do well locked in metal tubes) and dramamine for the motion sickness. Worked fine on the way too Vegas, but on the way back, on the second leg (the longer leg) we had seesaw wing action taking off, and loads of turbulence for the entire 3.5 hour flight. Lots of bumping up and down, and jostling around. Took me about half an hour and I had quite a headache cooking.

It was a late night flight, and I eventually dozed off a bit until my wife woke me up to see the lightning storm we were flying over, which was really cool to watch.

We were delayed too, departing Vegas, because of weather in Denver. We flew Fontier, which was OK. We sat on the plane for about 2 hours, then "deplaned" and sat in the gate area for about an hour, and then took off on the party plane from bouncy town.

By the time we landed in Akron I was queasy as all hell and swearing to myself I would never fly again. It's just too uncomfortable for me.

I'm flying to LA in a few weeks to attend the Long Beach Comic Con with Raw Studios. Xanax and motion sickness galore I'm sure!

Airtran. My least favorite company to fly with at that.

FYI, most of the MD80s in American's fleet were manufactured in the 70's. Good job with the observation.


Yeah, flying sucks...but don't get me started.....


no really, DON'T !!

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Cowards hide behind keyboards



"Even a man that has nothing, can still give his life."

DHS
NYANG, MAJ Ret.