Hear about the snow in the northeast this past weekend? I got to fly right into the lion's den! We arrived in Allentown, Pennsylvania around 11:15am. One leg to the overnight to sit in a hotel all day. Excitement city! I watched Olympics all day. Well, the skies were gray and threatening snow until around 4pm or so when it finally started coming down. And didn't stop until, well, I'm not sure because when I left for Atlanta it was still snowing. Here's what happened the next morning:
Overnight, Allentown got about 8-12 inches. Walking out the lobby doors at the Crown Plaza at 5am was intense enough on it's own. We were greeted with a blanket of snow between us and the van as well as swirling death winds b/c we were downtown amongst the tall buildings. Yes, they do have a few in ol' Allentown. None of the streets were plowed. Our top speed on the way to the airport was about 25mph; the driver spinning his tires a couple of times trying to get moving from stops. The Comair people at the ticket counter were like, "Wow! You guys are here!" At the gate, our passengers eyed myself and the captain suspiciously (he's 38 but looks 30). They're looking out the window at their snow-covered airplane. One man asks, "You guys are good, right?" I so badly want to say no when people ask that. Yes, I've heard it more than once when the weather is bad.
Down the jetway we go to our freezing metal tube. Zipped up snug in my leather jacket and gloves and a borrowed ear muff thing from the flight attendant, I ventured out into the cold to conduct the preflight examination of the aircraft. At one point, I had snow up to my knees while fighting the blistering winds and moderate snowfall. It was actually kind of fun. Trudging around in the snow with my flashlight. Needless to say, we had to de-ice.
We pushed back from the gate on time at 6:00am sharp. Now it was time to clean the plane. First, we have to de-ice all the snow and ice built up on the plane overnight. We configured the aircraft and the truck circled around and shot us with it's hose. One guy up on the cherry picker arm and one guy driving the truck. That took about 15 minutes or so. Now, since it is still snowing moderately, the wings and tail have to be sprayed with anti-ice fluid to prevent anything from re-freezing long enough for us to take off. Well, the truck can't get pressure for the anti-ice fluid so they have to call out a competitor's truck. In this case, Continental. One of the Comair guys has a buddy over there and he helps us out. But it takes a while. Finally they arrive and coat us up with green goo.
Off we go! The Captain carefully swings us around on the icy snow-covered ramp only to find he isn't getting very good traction, at least, not enough to turn us so that we can make the entrance to the taxiway. Now we're stuck. The crew that pushed us back from the gate comes back out to push us back about 20 feet with the tug so we can make the turn. This takes a while. While it's taking a while, we're looking at the clock and noticing that our window for taking off in icing conditions with our anti-ice fluid is quickly closing and finally slams shut. Like I said, depending on the type of precipitation, we have a certain amount of time before the fluid loses it's effectiveness. So call back the Continental truck. First they re-de-ice us with the Comair truck, then re-anti-ice us with the Continental truck. By now the sun has cast some light on the Earth, allowing us to see just how gray and dreary everything is in the constant snowfall.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, once again from the flight deck....I've finally got good news for you. Everything is set to go and we're going to be number two for takeoff once we reach the end of the runway. We do realize your frustration and appreciate your patience and we will do everything to get you to Atlanta as quickly and safely as possible."
At 8:15am, 2 hours and 15 minutes after pushing back from the gate, we are on our way to Atlanta.
