Thursday, July 10, 2008

Oops!

No, it's not a new advertisement for US Airways, or two planes in love (well, maybe it is..). It's what happens when the rampers in Charlotte attempt to have a PSA airlines CRJ700(left) and CRJ200(right) occupy the same space at the same time. Also, it appears that the horizontal stabilizer and elevator are stronger than a rudder... good to know. According to rumors, the ramper pushing back one of the planes just walked off the job after the incident, knowing that he would face a drug test. Who knows if that's true. What's crazy is all that would really happen would be perhaps a drug test, and then a slap on the wrist; "don't do that again."


This is a day or two after the incident above. The -700 sporting a new, unpainted rudder.



A picture I took of three of our planes on the ramp in CLT. Nine-oh-Nine.



At Flight Level 330, we had already deviated around 2 thunderstorms, and from the looks ahead, we were going to have to go around some more.


You know what's crazy? RADAR. RAdioDetectionAndRanging. I flip a switch, and our radar sends out waves that bounce off of precipitation 160 miles away, then paint these pretty little pictures on our screens. It takes a few seconds for this to occur - to bounce off of rain drops 160 miles away, then come back so the precipitation can be mapped! Crazy talk. Approaching Jackson, MS, enroute to CLT from San Antonio. The radar image is mapping the storms that are seen out the front window. We would end up deviating around 2 more storms, and barely beating a line of storms into Charlotte. The wall of rain hit just as I was getting off the employee bus and walking to my truck. Perfect timing.



That's an arch.



That's me in front of an arch.



Deeeetroit. Downtown on the left, Canada across the water on the right.