To those brave men and women, who fly alone in the night to take us to the stars, we salute you.

Flying gives me such a peaceful feeling..

When I´m flying over the Earth, I look down and all I see is a serene, peaceful, placid and tranquil World. There are no signs of war, strife, commotion, violence or disorder. All Manhood problems don´t exist, I just see pure nature and beauty. It doens´t matter if I´m having a bad day - whatever riddles I´ve left on ground - when I´m up there, it just takes one look through the window, one single look, and all problems just vanish. And I get this overwhelming feeling, a feeling of happiness, that strikes directly into my heart.

Just a few hours ago, astronaut Mike Fossum twitted this video from the International Space Station at NASA, saying "This is the best video I´ve seen from photos we took on ISS! Stunning!" (it´s worth seeing it full screen and HD):

Fuel combustion in aviation may only account for two percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, but environmental protection is nevertheless accorded top priority at most airlines. The average airline uses 5.4 litres of fuel to transport a passenger a distance of 100 kilometres (100 PKM), roughly equivalent to the amount used by a passenger car. Some airlines have now managed to reduce this value by 35 percent. Its fuel consumption rate of just 3.5 litres per 100PKM makes those airlines more energy-efficient.

Training duties

Today will be the last day that I´m providing training duties for this month´s batch of new cabin crew.

It´s so fulfilling to supply information to people who are starting to fly. But observing them, and seeing how they develop from flight to flight is even greater. Seeing them makes me go back in time, I´ve been there, I had the same passion and expectations and also fear to fail. But in the end, experience it´s the ultimate tool. No matter how much information I´m giving them right now, no matter how many times we go through procedures and no matter what grades I´m giving them, in the end, It lays only in their hands to go up in the skies and make the best out of it.

Incident of the week #6

I guess the lack of oxygen when flying at 38.000 feet makes people go crazy and do stupid stuff.

This week, yet another passenger thought it would be nice to buy a direct ticket to jail. The aircraft had just taken off from Portland on route to Houston (USA) when the flight crew decided to abort the climbing and levelled off at 14.000 feet reporting to the ground that they had an unruly passenger.

Mr. Unruly is a smoker, and although he´d only been on board for about 35 minutes, he decided it would be ok to light up his electronic cigarette.

Senator Frank Lautenberg (who also wrote the 1987 law to ban smoking on airplanes) had asked early this year to clarify the rule. Because even though many airlines already have begun informing passengers that the devices are not allowed on flights, Lautenberg said there had been confusion over their use and wanted to make sure officials were solidly opposed to opening the door to e-smoking on planes. Some e-cigarette distributors have touted their convenience because they can be "smoked" anywhere traditional cigarettes are not allowed.

If you don´t know what E-cigarettes are, they are plastic and metal devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge, creating vapor that the "smoker" inhales. A tiny light on the tip even glows like a real cigarette. They have prompted debate over how risky they are and whether they're even legal.

But returning to Mr. Unruly, he ended up being arrested, after the aircraft returned to Portland for a safe landing about 20 minutes after departing, not just because he lighted up his electronic cigarette while on board, even though his flight attendants had clearly advised him not to. Had he not started punching the cabin crew and  a number of other fellow passengers, such as yelling profanities I´m sure the outcome would have been way different. All of that, just because of an electronic cigarette - Oh, the days of a flight attendant are never boring. When you thought you´ve seen it all, there´s always someone who´ll come and surprise you.



Good things of being a flight attendant..

Although it´s still early, I´ve been up for the last couple of hours and have already done my laundry. And even though I have no cleaned linen on my bed right now (they´re still drying) it doesn´t matter - ´cause I won´t see my bed for the next couple of days.. Gotta love red-eye flights

:)

Sh*t, I did It again..

Dear 10C:

I´m so ashamed and embarrassed for calling you Sir - you´re a woman, and I truly apologise.

It´s just that on that flight I had a man who looked like a woman and a woman who looked like a man, and things just got confused. It was a stupid mistake, and I hope you didn´t take it personally.

Incident of the week #5

Incidents don´t only happen in the skies - sometimes they also do on the ground.

This happened this week on a Canadian North Dash-8. The aircraft had just landed in Yellowknife (Canada).  It was  just another flight that was coming to an end and as the captain successfully reached the final parking position, he switched off the engines. The left engine was shut down and the right hand propeller was feathered. The fact that just half an hour before the incident, Yellowknife airport had suffered a 2-hour power out (caused by a Canadian Army Chopper) might have helped for what happened next. The ramp agent was walking over towards the right main gear in order to place the wheel chocks, and probably by distraction, didn´t notice that the propeller was still moving - he was immediately struck and received serious injuries. He promptly received first aid from a flight attendant, the airport emergency services were called and he was brought to a local hospital. He´s condition is stable, although critical. Sadly enough, this ramp agent was only on his 3rd day of work, so perhaps inexperience,  poor training and distraction were also a huge factor for the incident. Let´s hope that he makes a full recovery and that this incident will be a wake-up call for all ramp agents out there. 



Incident of the week #4

Although it´s only friday and I already wrote the incident of the week for this weekend, I just couldn´t pass the opportunity to talk about this other incident I´ve just heard of:

An Airphil Express performing a runway excursion in Kalibo (Philipinnes), coming in from Manila.

After seeing the video, filmed by a passenger many questions came to my mind. Although everything seems very suspicious, I will not discuss the fact that the approach speed seems to be way higher than normal, that the flaps don´t seem to be set to full - as they´d suppose to be, or that the aircraft touched down far too late - almost in the middle of the runway. I´d rather talk about why the heck, would the captain announce "Cabin crew prepare for landing" just about only 15 seconds prior to touch down. And then, on top of that, an announce from the purser " Ladies an Gentlemen, we are now on final approach - please make sure your seat belts are secured and thank you" just over 10 seconds prior to landing?!! I really hope that´s a non-standard procedure for that Philippine airline. Everyone knows that the last minute before touch down is one of the most important and dangerous moments from the entire flight, where concentration should be at the highest. Instead of flying the airplane, why is the pilot distracting himself announcing "prepare for landing"? And how can you prepare yourself for landing in 15 seconds - especially when most of that time you´re making an announcement that you could have done minutes before? What if there´s some emergency - like bird strike, engine fire.. How can a flight attendant that´s holding her public address do a safety position or react to the situation? Boy, oh boy I got really chocked seeing this video, I really hope some investigation will be made, and some procedures will be changed for the sake of all upcoming passengers flying with that airline. Here´s the video, just watch and think about it:

Love is in the air..

Love was certainly in the air, on this years Valentines day over Bratislava!

The Slovakian main airport had the fun idea of hosting a romantic event over the clouds. Three couples were provided with a special sightseeing flight and changed wedding vows at 38.000 feet.

It all began with a contest settled on the Bratislava airport facebook fanpage. Participation condition was sending in a photo. The only requirement: the photo should have something to do with flying. Not only did the price consist on a free flight - a visit to the Caproni Lounge followed by the convoy of three black limousines and a romantic lunch at the Hotel Danube gate was also offered. In the end, the winners where chosen from over 100 entries. And for those three couples flight V56969 was certainly unforgetable.



The three winning couples at the Caproni Lounge, just before the flight





Not only did the purser performed a life jacket demonstration - she also showed how to wear the wedding ring properly!





Things to keep in mind - the adventures flying into TLV

I bet you - each and every single flight attendant once answered while being asked - why do you want to become a flight attendant? - with:

"Oh, I love learning new cultures and people from all over the world".

But very few will actually know what such a statement means - It can be really, really, reeeeeaaaaallly frustrating and challenging sometimes. So flight attendants that quickly flip off with passengers from a different culture from theirs really makes me upset sometimes. That happens in my airline as well, so I always make sure to motivate my team and go through a few basics at briefings when flying  to some "special" destinations. Tel Aviv is certainly one of them.

Not only because a kosher meal service can be a little bit challenging (for instance, each passenger has to personally open his own meal before you can put it on the oven and cook it - imagine this on a full aircraft), but specially because you have to be really very careful with anything you say.

PLEASE never ever repeat this faux pas I once heard:

Flight attendant: - "Would you like some water?"

Jewish passenger: - "yes, please."

Flight attendant: - "With gas or without gas?"

No need to say what happened next. Please bare World History while flying with passengers from a different culture from your own.

Oh, and if you are a female flight attendant, don´t be chocked if the first question you hear from a very strong religious jewish passenger is:

-"Do you have your period (yes, as in menstrual bleeding in case you´re wondering) right now?"

And if you give yes as an answer, don´t take it too personally if that passenger will despise you the entire flight. And please, don´t touch or talk to him neither - it will only make things worse..

Incident of the week #3

Many passengers take for a fact that they can breath and operate normally on an airplane at 38.000 feet but only a few know, that they are flying in a "can" - a ticking bomb that could blow up anytime.

An incident that could have lead to that, hadn´t the crew noticed it on time, happened this week on a Sat Airlines flight from Khabarovsk to Yuzhno Sakhalinsk (Russia). Just after taking-off, the flight deck noticed that the aircraft wasn´t pressuring as it should. So the crew had to perform an emergency landing in Yuzhno Sakhalinsk. After performing a rapid descent, the aircraft landed safely about 30 minutes later an neither of the 18 passengers nor crew were injured. The aircraft was grounded and the return flight postponed to the next day. Funny enough, only a week prior to the incident, a similar loss of cabin pressure happened in the same region, to the same aircraft type, to the same airline.
A loss of pressurisation can lead to a slow decompression that can lead to a rapid decompression. The correct thing to do is immediately descend to a lower flight level and if necessary proceed for an emmergency landing. Not only through the cockpit instruments, signs of a slow  decompression are shown - also in the cabin. That´s why flight attendants always should be vigilant. If passengers start showing signs of fatigue, tiredness, headaches, pain in the ears - also possibly bleeding, dizzinness, etc, and in the cabin unusual noises, such as whistling or hissing sounds are heard, the cockpit crew has to be immediately contacted. One of the most extreme crashes because of an undetected slow decompression happened in Europe, to the Helios Flight 522 on 14 August 2005 - worth reading an article about it.

Is this the future of low-cost?

Of course not. Although... I believe there are some airlines out there who would actually love this..  :)

If you enjoy british humour then you must watch "Come fly with me" hosted by BBC, a spoof of three non fictional airlines: FlyLo, Our Lady Air and Great British Air.

CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder)

Captain said:
-"Come on SFA, how long have we known each other? you know how to do this, otherwise I wouldn´t handle it to you"
So I pushed the button:
-" Bom dia Lisboa, XX1234, flight level 360, heading NARAK"
The ATC responded.
Then I went:
-"Roger that"

It was another moment of those I will never forget. I was proud.

Incident of the week #2

Last week the news were about taking-off with more passengers then landing, so today let´s talk about landing with one more extra passenger... well, almost!

This happened this week on a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 flight from Frankfurt (Germany) to Orlando (USA). The mommy passenger, who was in her 28th week of pregnancy, started having contractions while the plane was over the Atlantic Ocean, about 4 hours into the flight. As the situation was getting serious, the captain immediately decided to divert the aircraft. Having a situation like this while flying over the Atlantic can be challenging, but fortunately there was land in sight! - they ended up landing in the Lajes Airbase at the Azores Islands (Portugal). How fun and exciting is that? The German baby being actually borned in an island somewhere in the Atlantic causing a 352 passenger aircraft to divert. That´s certainly a nice story to tell friends when he/she grows up.

Expectant mothers with complication-free pregnancies can travel on Lufthansa flights (and on most other airlines) until the end of the 36th week of pregnancy before their expected due date. Each airline has a different policy but generally after that date, their is also a possibility to fly with a special certification from the airline medical center but is not really advisable. Such as for complicated pregnancies, carrying multiples and premature contractions. Because the threat of thrombosis (blood clots) is increased during pregnancy, moms-to-be should also wear compression stockings and elevating feet during the flight.
And then you should also bare in mind that an action like this can get quite costly for the family, as such diversions are generally not covered by insurance - especially in this case, a premature baby borned on a foreign island that certainly will be trapped on an incubator in that hospital for perhaps 8 weeks or so, a diverted aircraft, the whole bureaucracy to get the baby a passport so they can fly back to Germany and finding an airline that will actually connect them, hence Lajes is more like a charter destination for most airlines. So I think, one has  to really think twice before flying and being pregnant. Oh well, all in all it all went well and Azores - what a fantastic place to be borned!

About 15 minutes until landing in an Austrian big city, doing a final cabin-check;

Pax: - "Do you know what that is?", pointing a big city out of the window.
- "Oh, well that should be Graz, we´re almost landing".
Pax: - "No, not the grass, I mean the city down there".

[sigh]