I was on a Convair 580 Turbo Prop, flying from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan back toward Detroit. We had several passengers onboard, but not a full aircraft. We were to land in Grand Rapids, Michigan on our way to Detroit.
Upon landing I felt a thumping shimmy that was unusual, and then a jolt. Oh Oh! Once we could stop Captain Marv Blakesley came out of the cockpit, gave me a "Oh Boy" look and descended the stairs.
The passengers and I watched as the Captain walked around the aircraft- talked for a moment to the ground crew, then came onboard.
He came into the cabin and announced that we had a shredded tire! That in itself was an easy fix, but he believed some of the tire shreds had been ingested into the left engine!
Next came a ladder, which the Captain climbed. It looked, from our point of view that he disappeared inside the engine! The look on his face as he came back onboard told us the news- we weren't going anywhere.
Captain Blakesley actually walked the cabin, answering any questions the passengers had. He spent quite a bit of time explaining to one interested passenger. Later Captain Blakesley joked that if you asked him what time it was he was tempted to tell you how to build a watch! Ha!
You could tell that made quite an impression on the passengers and eased their concerns. He did have a way with them.
The passengers were deplaned to wait for another aircraft to bring them to Detroit. We were to stay in Grand Rapids and await a mechanic to arrive with parts. It seems not only was the tire shredded, but 2 of the fan blades were damaged when the shredded tire was ingested.
Back in those days we had "crew cars", meaning there were cars available for crews who overnighted. We were starving! The First Officer said he knew a place that had great Italian food! I hesitated. I was looking in my purse, realizing I had no money with me. Captain Blakesley saw this and informed me- "I'm buying, Marcy! Get in the car!"
Off we went for a lovely dinner. I don't remember the conversation exactly, but do remember the Captain and First Officer exchanging stories about airline life. Funny stories that made us all laugh!
The ground agent had secured rooms for us to spend the night.
We were headed from the restaurant to the hotel when we heard (and felt) a thud thud thud! You've got to be kidding me!! The car had a flat tire! We three looked at each other in disbelief! This can't be happening!!
We all got out of the car. Captain Blakesley looked at the flat and started mumbling! The First Officer and I started laughing as the Captain started joking about how bizarre the situation was!
He wanted to know which of us had a cloud hanging over our heads! The whole time he was changing the tire to the spare he was joking about the situation! Just as he was putting everything away in the trunk we heard a MEOW!
We stood with our mouths hanging open! A black cat was rubbing against the Captain's leg, meowing away! We all looked at each other and burst out laughing!
The Captain said- "Well Shit! I guess that answers the question about who's got the bad luck!!" He actually made the First Officer drive the car to the hotel. He wasn't taking any chances!
The next day we "ferried" the aircraft back to Detroit. (That's where no passengers are on board, only the crew and mechanic). The mechanic wanted to sleep- so I got to sit on the cockpit jump seat!
As we broke through the clouds the view was spectacular! We skimmed the clouds- it was if we were being held up by those fluffy white and grey things! The cockpit certainly has the best view! It was a thrill to be up there!
No more incidents- no more tire problems - and no more black cats! I guess we had all our bad luck in one evening!
Looking back, it is a fun memory! At the time it was a "You've Got To Be Kidding Me!!" experience, lightened by Captain Marv Blakesley's humor!
Until next time, Dear Readers!
Life is indeed an adventure! Shredded and flat tires, black cats and good Italian food, along with a great crew made up for a fun memory to look back on!
11 comments:
Great Story! Thanks for Sharing it.
Dear Unknown Reader- Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for the story and memory jogger of my shredded tire experience. I was A non rev ORD/MSP VIA GRB EAU. Shredded a tire at GRB . DC9S were new to the fleet at that time. Had a several hour delay waiting for a MSP engine analyst to assess the engine damage. We got the green light to go. Upon landing in Eau the pilots elected to turn around on the runway and in so doing dropped the nose wheel off the edge of the runway into a sandy edge. We were stuck. The EAU crew had planks under the nose wheel. Then it was thrust reversers to get backed on the runway. First they had all passengers move to the rear of the aircraft to lighten the weight on the nose wheel. We were standing in the aisle as the thrust reverse got us back on the runway. I recall the analyst remarking about all the sand that got sucked in the engine during this maneuver. We finally made it to MSP with out any more incidents. We all have stories. Thank you for your's.
Dear Leroy- Wow! Great story! Thank you! Sounds familiar! I'd love to have you share that story with the group! You're right! We all have lots of stories! Please feel free to share yours whenever the spirit moves you!
I really enjoy reading your post. Thank you!
Dear Unknown Reader- Thank you for commenting! I'm glad you enjoyed the story!
Dear unit 501- Thank you for your comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the story!
So enjoyed reading your wonderful story. We arn't short on memories. Thanks so much for sharing your great story
Great and funny story. Thanks for sharing
Dear Unknown Reader- Thank you for your comment! Yes- years worth of memories! Thank you for going down memory lane with me!
Dear Douglas- Thank you for your comment! It's a pleasure to share my memories with you!
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