Hazmat Suits are Sexy

Sometime a couple of weeks ago, a colleague sent me an email asking if I was available to travel to travel the week of Thanksgiving to a client location out of state. I mean it's the week of Thanksgiving! Family is coming to town! I gotta get my Turkey on! But, lo and behold I made my flight arrangements with a connection in Houston on the outbound (and Atlanta on the return).

At 3:30am I got up, got ready & headed to ABIA for my 5:45am departure. Once in Houston, I boarded a bus to the "small airline" terminal & boarded the regional jet to head off to my destination.

About 10 minutes into the flight, as I was reading my Runner's World mag, I smelled something funny. After a few seconds, I looked around & other passengers were beginning to look around at each other, starting to make faces, looking for an explanation for this putrid smell. I noticed the flight attendant picking up the coffee pot and smelling it, then smelling the trash. Then she came back to where several of us were sitting together & asked if we smelled smoke. We replied, "yes." She made a beeline to the cockpit & then began frantically putting her beverage tray/equipment away. By now, there's a slight fog throughout the plane.

Next thing: near nose-dive as we are clearly going to land. The flight attendant makes an announcement that we are going to return to Houston and deboard the plane. She came up to the exit row, just in front of me, and gave a quick review of how to operate the doors and was now using the term, "evacuate". A woman sitting in the exit row actually grabbed the handle during this briefing, and we all shouted "NO, don't open it NOW!" as we were still in the air. The flight attendant wasn't sure if we'd have to use the slides, but she was getting everyone ready just in case.

As soon as we landed, we came to a very abrupt stop, then a pause, then the pilot comes on & shouts, "EVACUATE! EVACUATE! EVACUATE!" Holy Crap! We were told to leave all our belongings behind. And we were greeted with two men wearing this:

Next, we stood on the runway for about 25 minutes while 4 large firetrucks surrounded the plane & the space dudes investigated. We were collectively asked about 5 times if anyone was injured. Our belongings were personally delivered to us. We filled out a survey & got some coupons. They got us on another flight, but since by now I was going to miss my meeting, I needed to find a conference room at the airport & just do my WebEx from there. I was personally escorted by a man named Robert to the customer service counter. I was given a flight back to Austin for later in the afternoon. Then, Robert called the airline travel center to reserve me a room. I wasn't sure if I was getting all this personal treatment just because they are good at emergency response & follow through, or if they are mitigating any litigation. At any rate, I had my meeting & then returned to Austin without further incidents.

It's interesting how in emergency situations I can keep my cool pretty well, and it's not until I realize how serious everyone else is & how their "no hesitation" response puts it into perspective. Seeing the hazmat guys was cool (and yes, kinda sexy in a mysterious sort of way), but it was also pretty freaky. Reminds me of the lump I found in my neck last year that hurt to the touch, and when I went to the ER, I was fine until they were calling specialists & rushing me in for MRIs, etc. - then, I was a complete wreck.

I did find it funny towards the end of this ordeal how one of the airport investigators was taking photos of the aircraft, the trucks, the passengers, and then suddenly he had the crew members posing like it was social hour. I wonder if those will end up on Facebook somewhere...

Here's the official news report:

HOUSTON -- A Continental Express plane made an emergency landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Monday morning, KPRC Local 2 reported. Houston Fire Department officials said the regional jet carrying 33 passengers returned to the airport after smoke filled the aircraft's cockpit because of a problem with the engine. Passengers reported seeing white smoke billowing from the engine. Flight 5570, operated by Chautauqua Airlines, left for Louisville, Ky., at 7:25 a.m. and returned to Houston about 30 minutes later.

And now, for my silly friends who asked a few random questions:

• No, there was nobody having random sex in the face of death, but there was one couple holding hands & the man next to me holding his 4 yr old son's hand.
• Yes, the 2 people in the exit row were freaking out, asking each other if they knew what to do, & frantically reading the safety information card located in the seatback pocket.
• No, we didn't have to use the emergency slides.

Thanks, Houston!