We always board the plane early. Beth moves slowly, she can be unsteady on her feet, and she always stops at the end of the ramp and hesitates to step off the ramp and onto the plane... we've found it's easier for her if we just get on early. I get the window seat, Beth prefers to be between us and Chuck likes the aisle.
On our flight to Anaheim we got settled in our seats here in Seattle and I looked out the window. I usually take a few pictures of the airport, just as a starting point to our trip. Plus it helps me find the pictures faster when I'm scrolling through my phone later on. But this time something caught my eye.
You know how you have that debate in your head? That's what I did:
"That's not right, maybe I should take a picture."
"No, no. I'm sure they know about it."
"I don't know, I think I should show it to someone."
I wouldn't say I'm a frequent flyer but I've flown enough to know that's not how the wing is supposed to look. So I took a picture. Now the flight attendants are helping people with their luggage, answering questions, so I waited until one was just walking through and asked her, "Is this normal?" I don't know why I asked it that way. I knew it wasn't normal, but we were getting close to departure and I think I was just starting to get nervous.
She looked very surprised and headed to the front of the plane. She came back a few minutes later and asked if she could take a picture of my picture. Then headed back to the front.
By now everyone is on board and we're just waiting. Then the pilot comes back to our seats and asks if he could take a look himself. We get up and he looks out the window. He looked right at me and thanked me for telling them about it.
We settle back in our seats and I see the pilot outside looking at the wing. Different people are coming to look at it and by now other passengers have started taking pictures of whats going on.
A few minutes later he comes back to our seats and says everything's okay. "Can you see how clean the cut is? The maintenance team did that. It happened a few weeks ago so it wasn't on the current maintenance record that I reviewed today, so I was a little shocked to see your picture. But they know about it and the plane's been flying with it that way. They're planning to replace the flap soon when the plane goes into the hanger for a complete overhaul. But thank you for bringing it to my attention!"
He headed back to the cockpit, and made a short announcement about it over the intercom. Even though we took off a little late, we had a very nice flight to LAX.
7 comments:
Good for you for spotting that. At least they got it on record and it won't delay a future flight.
Wow!! Great catch!! It is pretty obvious, that's for sure!! Glad the flight was uneventful and you arrived safely!
Good that you noticed the wing and brought it up. Better safe than sorry!
Wow! But just think if it really WASN'T supposed to be there! Thank you for being diligent and observant. Your timely photo could have made a HUGE difference! Thank you, and Praise God for people like you who aren't afraid to speak up if you see something that doesn't seem just right. I'm sure everyone was relieved to know it was okay, including the Pilot! Wow! What a story!
Holy smokes, imagine the first flight after the cut was made in the wing? Is it possible they didn't know that day that the plane would be okay? Yikes. Glad you spoke up and shared your photo and concerns with the flight attendant.
That wing looks like something took a bite out of it!😮 I'm glad you spotted it.
I'm glad you told them about it. Way to go! Glad all was well with your flight.
Post a Comment