"In the beginning"

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Airline humor

AIRLINES: ANNOUNCEMENTS

All too rarely, airline attendants make an effort to make the in flight "safety lecture" and announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are some real examples that have been heard or reported:

1. On a Southwest flight (SW has no assigned seating, you just sit where you want) passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, when a flight attendant announced, "People, people we're not picking out furniture here, find a seat and get in it!"

2. On a Continental Flight with a very "senior" flight attendant crew, the pilot said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants."

3. On landing, the stewardess said, "Please be sure to take all of your belongings. If you're going to leave anything, please make sure it's something we'd like to have.”

4. " There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane"

5. "Thank you for flying Delta Business Express. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride."

6. As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Ronald Reagan, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker: "Whoa, big fella. WHOA!"

7. After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in Memphis, a flight attendant on a Northwest flight announced, "Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted."

8. From a Southwest Airlines employee: "Welcome aboard Southwest Flight 245 to
Tampa.. To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised."

9. "In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure! , masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with more than one small child, pick your favorite."

10. "Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we'll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines."

11. "Your seat cushions can be used for flotation; and, in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments."

12. "As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses."

13. And from the pilot during his welcome message: "Delta Airlines is pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!"

14. Heard on Southwest Airlines just after a very hard landing in
Salt Lake City: The flight attendant came on the intercom and said, "That was quite a bump, and I know what y'all are thinking. I'm here to tell you it wasn't the airline's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it wasn't the flight attendant's fault, it was the asphalt."

15. Overheard on an American Airlines flight into
Amarillo, Texas, on a particularly windy and bumpy day: During the final approach, the Captain was really having to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the Flight Attendant said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Amarillo. Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what's left of our airplane to the gate!"

16. Another flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing: "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."

17. An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the Passengers exited, smile, and give them a "Thanks for flying our airline." He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said, "Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?" "Why, no, Ma'am," said the pilot. "What is it?" The little old lady said, "Did we land, or were we shot down?"

18. After a real crusher of a landing in
Phoenix, the attendant came on with, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Capt. Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we'll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal."

19. Part of a flight attendant's arrival announcement: "We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of US Airways."

20. Heard on a Southwest Airline flight. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing, and, if you can light 'em, you can smoke 'em..”

Gripe Sheet


After every commercial flight, pilots fill out a form called a gripe sheet, which conveys to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The mechanics read and correct the problem, and then respond in writing on the lower
half of the form what remedial action was taken, and the pilot reviews the gripe sheets before the next flight.
Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints and problems as submitted by Qantas pilots and the solution recorded by the maintenance engineers.

By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.

(P = The problem logged by the pilot.)

(S = The solution and action taken by the engineers.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.

S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.

S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Something loose in cockpit.

S: Something tightened in cockpit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Dead bugs on windshield.

S: Live bugs on back-order.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.

S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.

S: Evidence removed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.

S: DME volume set to more believable level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.

S: That's what they're there for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: IFF inoperative.

S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Suspected crack in windshield.

S: Suspect you're right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Number 3 engine missing.

S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Aircraft handles funny.

S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, flyright, and be serious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Target radar hums.

S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Mouse in cockpit.

S: Cat installed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.

S: Took hammer away from midget.

7 comments:

Ivy the Goober said...

These are hilarious!

Davoh said...

Hi Peter, just thought that I'd drop in to say how much I enjoy your site.
And add a couple of 'Rules of the air" for pilots.
1. Every take-off is optional, every landing is mandatory.
2. The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, the runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago.
3. The only time you have too much fuel is when yr on fire.
Cheers

Peter said...

Hi Ivy, glad you enjoyed.

Hi Wol, always nice to find a new reader, and a contributor as well.

Anonymous said...

Totally enjoyed these and although I don;t have any to add, it was nice just to sit back and laugh.

The Complimenting Commenter said...

That was really funny. I appreciate the laughs. Nice post.

Anonymous said...

Hi Peter, These are really funny.
I liked some of the Qantas ones.

NOW YOU KNOW WHY I WONT FLY !!!!

Carolyn said...

Oh boy, these really hit home with me after my post about my husbands ordeal this past Saturday ;)