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Lynbrook, NY, Sunrise Hotel, Friday 1995-11-10 07:00 local (Z-5)
I've decided to be more accurate in my labeling. When I've written messages before from here I've labeled them as JFK or New York when, in fact, I'm about 20 minutes from JFK out Long Island and not in New York City. A trivial point I know, but then I tend to be obsessed with detail.
Had an interesting trip from Paris Orly to JFK in that the flight was a charter for the French contingent coming to the New York Marathon, to be run tomorrow, I think. It was a full boat, 469 runners along with a few non-running companions. The flight attendants told me it was a fun flight except for one point when a couple of the flight attendants fired up cigarettes in the back of the plane (legal on an international flight). The passengers immediately protested en masse, not wanting to be exposed to anything that would in the slightest inhibit their performance in the marathon. Needless to say, the flight attendants extinguished their cigarettes.
It was a friendly group. Everybody including the crew got a T-shirt, a small knapsack, a pen set, and a ticket for an in-flight drawing. I gave away my T-shirt and knapsack, am keeping the pens, and I didn't win the drawing. At the end of the flight, a French journalist accompanying the group insisted on giving the cockpit crew pins designated them as honorary French journalists. He was very tall, didn't speak any English, and had had too much wine during the trip. He presented the pins much like a general conferring medals on his troops—in the French manner of course. We took it good naturedly.
It was my leg, and I really wanted to give them a good landing to cap off their flight. I lucked out and got excellent conditions for a smooth touchdown—about 10 knots of wind right down the runway. That reduces the ground speed and minimizes any lurch from wheel spinup. Touchdown was a greaser. Whew. Made me feel better. My previous touchdown at Bombay was not all that great.
Got back to Tower's headquarters to face disappointment—I'm not getting to go home. I came to the hotel here, crawled in bed at 16:00, slept until 24:00, and I've been up doing paper work since and talking to C.J. on the phone. I'll crawl back in bed about 09:00 and sleep until 17:00 in preparation for an evening departure and all night flight to Amsterdam. At Amsterdam we'll commercial to Frankfurt, sleep there for a night, and then operate to Bombay. Then, if all goes as planned, I'll have an interesting trip. India is contributing troops to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Tower Air is hauling them in to an airport in Croatia. I can't remember the name of the airport, but we'll be there for 17 hours so we will be staying at a hotel there. I hear it's a real hole.
It was the airport for Split, Croatia.
Tower is known for doing flights that others don't like to do because of the increased risk factor. For example, they carried U.S. troops into and out of Mogadishu (spelling?) during the U.S. involvement there. In this case Air India has neither the equipment available or the willingness to risk it. I find it bizarre though that a government would not want to use its military aircraft or its national carrier to air lift its own troops. The risk is really very minimal.
Small as that risk is, it bothers some of our pilots. One of the problems is that since it's a war zone, our group life insurance is not in force. One of the things the in-house union is attempting to do is to get Tower to fix that.
Prior to coming to the hotel, I stuck my head in the ground school room to see if it was true that there was a pilot class in session. There was, and in talking to them during a break, I found that few of them have had previous 747 experience. That means the pool of 747 experienced people, just experienced, not even current, has dried up. This is the first time Tower has had to hire such people.
Yesterday in Paris at breakfast I talked with the f.o. who is second in line to be upgraded. It appears he will upgrade after having been with the company about 19 months. I hope I can do as well. It's premature though to even think of that. I could still get knocked out on probation.
Okay, off to get a little breakfast and then to bed.
Terry
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