Emergency Landing
Thanksgiving 2006 involved flying back to DC with Bronwen and Silas. We stayed with Iah and Papa Newcott, but celebrated with both families at the Moyers'. It was a fun day and meal. But by the evening I was sick with the Flu and would stay that way until the end. Too bad too, because the weather in DC was perfectly crisp. I rallied on Sunday for the Skins. We even did the tailgating thing. We made the mistake of parking next to a group of frat guys that had been there since early morning. At one point, two dudes were relieving themselves in the door crack of their pickup. Luckily the river of beer-pee flowed downhill away from us. But I guess that's what you can expect from tailgaters. We stuck to a few beers and hotdogs cooked on a single-use hibachi. I basically spent the whole trip sick and only started feeling better today.
The biggest event of the trip came during our return trip to California. 3/4 of the way back to Orange County on American Airlines, the pilot made an announcement that "we need to land immediately in Phoenix, the situation is stable, flight attendants prepare for immediate landing." I thought, I've never been through this. Bronwen and Silas were with me, so we might all be dying together. Is that good or bad? The engines sound and look okay. Why aren't they saying anything? In 15 minutes we were on the ground. When getting off, I heard the captain say that by the time we landed, the right engine on our 20 year old Boeing 737 was only operating at 19%. We had to sit in the airport until 6pm for a flight to Orange County - but we were alive. So, I was in mixed spirits. What a disaster. New travel rule: Only take direct flights on airlines with new fleets.