Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Flying High

January 6, 2015 - Left the house for San Jose at 9:00.  A beautiful day.  Too bad I need to head home.  Drive is fine.  No real traffic. At the airport by 12:45.   15 minutes for departure tax.  Change to winter clothes in the bathroom and check in.   Off to the business lounge.  Nice to have a beer and some food to relax. 

Down to the boarding gate about 3:30.  Sebastian (Liz Duncan's partner) is there.  He was supposed to leave on Avianca in the morning but they were over booked.  Good chance to visit.

On the plane and waiting to leave. So, the winds are too strong for the normal takeoff.  They need to use a different runway and a steep climb over the mountains.  Therefore they can't fly as heavy.  So they either bump 25 passengers or carry less fuel.   As you an imaging, they opt for ore passengers and less fuel.  That means we can't get to Toronto.  Therefore we are flying to Nassau in the Bahamas instead.  Apparently it is just a stop for fuel but will add an hour to the flight.  Plan is landing after midnight.  Guess we will see how it al works out.  

Should have known something was up when I checked flight status online and it said AC1807 was destined for Nassau and a search of flights SJO to YYZ said the were none scheduled.

A good start - they closed the door 10 minutes early.  But I think we just sat for 15 minutes going no where.   Hmmm

5:08 takeoff into a 50 mph headwind. Usual runway.  But just keep going straight and climbing fast.  Then a 270 right turn to give us a chance to clear the mountains.   Now really rough. Flying towards a wall of cloud  on the east of the valley. Cleared the mountains and the clouds.  Pretty smooth but just a sea of fluffy white below.  That was a new experience!

Oh, I did mention Sebastian is on the flight.  He doesn't like flying.  Would be great if we we're seated together but I am on business and he couldn't upgrade as it is full. Hope he is surviving.

Watched "In Bruges" an interesting film.  Lisle would like it.   Think it is on the media drive.

7:30 Costa Rica time.  8:30 Nassau/Toronto.  Coming in for landing in Nassau.  Full moon is beautiful over the island.




They have just spent 5 minutes trying to close he door. Now just sitting.  Windows are all dogged up so can't see anything outside.

Captain just advise there is a malfunction with systems in Toronto and they can't leave until fuel and weight is confirmed - hopefully soon!

9:30 in Nassau.  Doors closed and pushing away.  Off the ground at 9:45.  Maybe land Toronto at 12:30. 

Seems my iPad is messed up - the button doesn't work so getting out of an app means rebooting the whole thing and staring over.

More wine please!!

Too much wine.  Need water!

There is this family - mom dad and two kids under 8. Asked if we could switch rows so they could be back to back.   Sure.  Part way through the flight the dad and son in row one switched with the nice older couple in row two opposite.  Much commotion.  The kid was sleeping and not feeling well so everyone needed to move to make them all feel better.   Dunno!

Landed 12:37 - it is -10c


Home - 1:45 2:30 by the time I hit bed - wont be a pretty morning!

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