Airline Trip Report (I Got Bored :P)

[sam051]

This was for my trip from Gold Coast to Perth which was done recently, like a month ago.

Qantas Airways
OOL-SYD 737-400
SYD-PER 747-300RR

Got up in the morning i think it was like 3:00am, got to the airport before it actually opened and we had my dog to transport with us aswell. Our dog is a Weimaraner, so you can imagine the size of the kennel. We were the 3rd people to check in and we were somewhat way over the baggage allowance (we were moving state...). There was also a problem if the kennel for our dog was actually going to fit through the aft cargo doors, regarding the 734. I knew it wouldn't be a problem, knowing the engineering and also having the proof of my dog travelling in the same type of aircraft before. Anyway after it was double checked we waited for 1hr until we were able to board.

Walked outside the terminal, as that was the gate that leads to the aircraft. Walked up the stair way and was given the usual welcome aboard etc. The flight was 3 quarters empty so it was really good. Particularly with this airport you usually need to taxi to the runway and turn left then do a 360degree turn and takeoff in the other direction, it's just the runway limitations etc... On this specific day we taxied straight out to the runway and immediately took off, due to the emptiness of the flight it was almost weightless. The 1hr Flight down to Sydney was kinda cool, because i enjoy turbulence and at the time, we were at FL250 and there was a head wind. So meanwhile, as the cabin was jolting up and down and every now and then getting disrupted by 50knt shear winds, the Flight Attendants came out with there usual snack choices. As per usual, 3 Arnotts crackers in plastic wrappings, some cheeses, bread bun, butter, jam, cream cheese, tea and orange juice. After the small snack we were given a choice of another drink, and a choice of fruit. As we came in for descent into Sydney from the east the pilot achieved a crosswind landing (MY FAVOURITE!!!). The landing was extremely soft and straight down the middle, nothing less of what i would expect from QANTAS.

Once we reached the other gate, which I think now was Gate 34, we were greeted with a 4hr delay, due to a flap wearing out on its' last flight, which the pilots and overhead pa's called it "Technical Difficulties". Nevertheless, there were some awesome aircraft at the airport, including the Singapore Airlines A380 which towered above it's jumbo friend. Also included were some Emirates A340's, South African Airways 747's and Singapore Airlines 777's etc. Anyway, as we boarded the QANTAS 743 which was infact also completely empty, almost, had a window seat closest to the wing. We had another 1hr delay inside the aircraft because the pilots had to file more reports on the latest maintenance updates etc. After all the delays we finally took off from Sydney Airport and we all recieved our complimentary breakfast meal which included a choice of breakfast cereals, milk, hot food, fruit and some cheese and crackers aswell as some drinks. After the meal we had a choice of either 9 or 7 movies to watch all within the latest dates. After the movie, short shows were played follwed by the Flight Attendants handing out Trumpet Icecreams, the ones with the chocolate at the bottom. Comfort was a bit restrictive, and i could've moved but i didn't want to let go of my window, wing seat. Anyhow it was nice still with the pillow and blanket that was provided and the smile from the flight attendants is always nice, although friendly service was lacking.

Looking out the window crossing over the Great Australian Bight, i admired the beautiful silver Rolls Royce Engines for the 743. Then i realised how old this aircraft actually is and i became slightly nervous . Nevertheless i still enjoyed it's reasonably smooth flight which was diverted south at first because of the powerfull winds. Sure enough though we continued back on course. As we came in for approach is what done smoothly and the overall landing was great.

Anyway that was my trip with QANTAS, im not the biggest fan of QANTAS but hey, im bored, and need to do something before i go crazy!

If you're bored, share an experience of your own.   

[Obmit]

Not as bored at Sam obviously was, but here's my short story...

I was coming back from Frankfurt via Honk Kong to Sydney in January. The first leg was boring, it was a Cathay 777, great FA's, crap inflight entertainment and good food
We landed in HKG, and we had an two hours to go and get something to eat and go to the toilet etc.

Off we went to whatever gate number it was, and there sat an almost miniature QANTAS      Boeing 767-338 compared to everything else around it. And true to form, QANTAS served up a cracker. A 9 hour flight (ended up a lot longer) with NO INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT  . With all of it's 229 seats, it felt like we were sitting on a minibus. But surprisingly, it was a lot more comfortable than the newly designed Cathay seats. But before we could take off, they needed an hour to fix the left engine. As the captain said "We have a very minor problem folks, the left engine won't start, but we should be in the air soon". Very minor. Anyway, they got it started, and we were off to Sydney.

When we got up to cruising altitude, they started serving out breakfast (the second one I'd been offered in 3 hours  ), and we continued on our merry way. I fell asleep for a little bit. I woke up to a scene of chaos.

I had just gotten up, and the guy in the row behind us had a Heart Attack/Stroke. This was about 2 hours out from Darwin. His condition was getting slowly worse, but luckily for QANTAS, there was a trained nurse on board. The FA's were excellent, a true credit to QANTAS. They remained calm and dealt as best as they could with limited resources. So the decision was made by the FA's and the Pilots and Ground Staff, that they needed to land the plane in Darwin. It made for good (yet very unfortunate) entertainment (not saying I enjoyed it, but just heaps of action).
So in we came to Darwin, the guy was slowly walked off the plane in a wheelchair (he didn't look alive to me and my Mum told me he probably wasn't gonna make it-she was the trained nurse).
So, we went to take off, and guess what happens: "Sorry folks, it looks like our minor problem that we encountered in Honk Kong has come back, and we will need Ground staff to take a proper look at the Left engine. We had already sat there an hour for the poor guy, and now we had to wait 2 hours for QANTAS to fix that Left engine.
So, we took off once again, and it was a race against time to get to Sydney before the curfew kicked in...
And sadly, we didn't make it 
So, just to make our holiday last a little longer, it was us and the other 227 passengers off to Melbourne. We stayed a night out at the airport, then finally, a total of 25 hours later got to Sydney airport.
And that 25 hours was just from Hong Kong.
That was one long flight...