sea oxen
2nd Dec 2009, 21:19
I've always been careful to never take the last train or Tube of the day, and I apply this philosophy to short-haul flights as well. If something goes wrong, there might be a Plan B.
After some carelessness on my part, I was booked on the last LH flight from Frankfurt to London last night. I thought 'hey, it arrives earlier than the BA flight I generally take - what could go wrong?'
The engines had been started and we were gently crawling out of the maze of concrete when there was a lovely <CRUNCH>. It felt as though the nosegear had run over something like a big speed hump, and I waited for the MLG to follow suit. It didn't, and we soon came to a stop. The following sequence of events took place:
* five minutes elapsed, then the captain explained that the nosegear was acting weirdly (hence the crunch) and he wanted to have it inspected. To do that, he needed to cut the engines.
* after about five minutes, the inspections were done. We heard again from the captain that we were going to be towed and they were figuring out what to do.
* after five minutes, the captain explained that they'd found a spare aircraft (WTF?) and that we'd be towed and bussed.
* after five minutes, the nose was jacked up, the gear straightened and we were dragged to a parking spot
* the passengers were invited to alight - after about twenty had, the captain explained that there'd been a logistical hiccough and the passengers would need to reboard, which they did. He went on to say that he wanted to get some crew over to the spare aircraft and bring the rest with the pax
* about ten minutes elapsed. The CC handed out chocolates. The order came to deboard, a bendy bus accepted the full complement and we were taken to another A321
* as it was an identical aircraft, we resumed our established seating pattern, the captain let us know as the last of the luggage was being loaded and off we went.
* our arrival in LHR was just a tad over an hour late. The Tube and Heathrow Connect were still running (albeit on their last legs)
I was highly impressed by the way that LH were decisive about what was going to happen; I mustn't have been alone in thinking that at best we'd be offered a seat on another carrier (and they'd have been as scarce as hen's teeth). Also impressive was the effort taken to tell us what was going on - even if just to say that they didn't know what was going on.
Upon reflection, it is interesting to think how my reaction changed from 'bloody Lufthansa, never touch them again' to 'how on Earth did they do that so efficiently - and these poor devils have an extra hour to cope with irate passengers/missed connections before they can call it a day'. I felt quite ashamed about my immediate reaction, given the effort that all the crew put into getting us into London.
Absolutely exceptional. Top hole. I like they way that they told us there was bad news, admitted that they couldn't give answers right away, had a small stuff-up because of the urgency of the situation and admitted it, and somehow managed to conjure up a spare aeroplane in their spare time (the logistical staff must have earned their keep, too).
But I'll still avoid the last flight of the day when I can.
SO
After some carelessness on my part, I was booked on the last LH flight from Frankfurt to London last night. I thought 'hey, it arrives earlier than the BA flight I generally take - what could go wrong?'
The engines had been started and we were gently crawling out of the maze of concrete when there was a lovely <CRUNCH>. It felt as though the nosegear had run over something like a big speed hump, and I waited for the MLG to follow suit. It didn't, and we soon came to a stop. The following sequence of events took place:
* five minutes elapsed, then the captain explained that the nosegear was acting weirdly (hence the crunch) and he wanted to have it inspected. To do that, he needed to cut the engines.
* after about five minutes, the inspections were done. We heard again from the captain that we were going to be towed and they were figuring out what to do.
* after five minutes, the captain explained that they'd found a spare aircraft (WTF?) and that we'd be towed and bussed.
* after five minutes, the nose was jacked up, the gear straightened and we were dragged to a parking spot
* the passengers were invited to alight - after about twenty had, the captain explained that there'd been a logistical hiccough and the passengers would need to reboard, which they did. He went on to say that he wanted to get some crew over to the spare aircraft and bring the rest with the pax
* about ten minutes elapsed. The CC handed out chocolates. The order came to deboard, a bendy bus accepted the full complement and we were taken to another A321
* as it was an identical aircraft, we resumed our established seating pattern, the captain let us know as the last of the luggage was being loaded and off we went.
* our arrival in LHR was just a tad over an hour late. The Tube and Heathrow Connect were still running (albeit on their last legs)
I was highly impressed by the way that LH were decisive about what was going to happen; I mustn't have been alone in thinking that at best we'd be offered a seat on another carrier (and they'd have been as scarce as hen's teeth). Also impressive was the effort taken to tell us what was going on - even if just to say that they didn't know what was going on.
Upon reflection, it is interesting to think how my reaction changed from 'bloody Lufthansa, never touch them again' to 'how on Earth did they do that so efficiently - and these poor devils have an extra hour to cope with irate passengers/missed connections before they can call it a day'. I felt quite ashamed about my immediate reaction, given the effort that all the crew put into getting us into London.
Absolutely exceptional. Top hole. I like they way that they told us there was bad news, admitted that they couldn't give answers right away, had a small stuff-up because of the urgency of the situation and admitted it, and somehow managed to conjure up a spare aeroplane in their spare time (the logistical staff must have earned their keep, too).
But I'll still avoid the last flight of the day when I can.
SO