Earlier this month I posted about a new job I have taken selling Crop Insurance/Pasture Insurance. Well as part of my training I was sent to Amarillo so I could meet the company we write the Insurance with. No problem right? ...Right.
Everything was ok until I started getting closer to Amarillo. I changed planes in Dallas and got on a prop engine plane. I had never been on one of those before, but I wasn't concerned since I was flying with American. I had never heard anything bad about them. Then, about 30 minutes out of Amarillo I heard this noise. I was sitting right behind the wing, reading my book, and I looked out the window to find the engine right outside my window was shooting flames from the rear of it. I quickly decided that this was not normal. It was doing it in short bursts, like when a lawnmower backfires. I have since come to decide that a lawnmower would have been safer to fly to Amarillo on...and lawnmowers don't fly good in case you didn't know.
This popping noise and flame show continued for a few minutes when all of a sudden the plane noticeably lowered altitude and slowed down in speed. "Well I had a good run" was the first thing that popped into my head. I made it 31 years and got to do lots of fun stuff. One thing I am most proud of is that you can order a "Justin Walker" in most bars and they will bring you a Crown and Water...really you can order it by name now.
But it was at that time, I figured, after all the dumb stuff I've done in my life that a plane crash is gonna be the way I go. I was ready. Luckily we made it into Amarillo. As we descended down on the runway, I noticed the fire trucks waiting for us at the end of the runway. They weren't parked at the terminal just in case something bad happened, they were down at the end of the runway where we touched down. I guess in case the landing gear also gave out and we slid to a stop down the pavement causing a prairie fire that could burn all the way to El Paso or Oklahoma City depending on which way the wind was blowing. Once we touched down they proceeded to follow us all the way to the terminal with their lights blazing. Just in case you don't believe me the photo is above.
The captain came on and told us that,"As some of you may have noticed we had some engine trouble on the way in, but we reduced altitude and slowed our speed down. After that the engine seemed to respond well." In other words, "The engine that was responsible for 50% of the power on the plane was trying to catch on fire, so we slowed her down and luckily we didn't all crash in a ball of fire. I was basically trying to fly us into Amarillo on a pack of gum with wings, and we managed to get it done this time." Thanks American Airlines.
Upon my return flight to Corpus Christi I am proud to report nothing caught on fire. As I was standing at the baggage claim carousel waiting for my bag to come around I noticed something else. My bag never came. Huh...I can distinctly remember paying an extra $20 for my bag to be checked when I left Amarillo. This $20 matched the amount I paid when leaving Corpus on my way to Amarillo making the tidy sum of $40 extra just for my luggage to arrive in both destinations with me.
About the time I noticed that my bag didn't show up, a nice man informed me that if it wasn't there already it wasn't coming. Perfect. I made my way to the claims counter and informed them of my dilemma. My dilemma was that I had paid $40 for my bag to have it's own little airline ticket so it could ride in the belly of the plane, yet my bag didn't get to make it's destination. I explained that if I had bought a ticket to...say Amarillo, and I didn't get there because of the flaming engine outside my window, I would be looking for a refund. So on my bag's behalf I stood ready to collect for it's ticket that was not honored. She did not agree. I again asked for my $40 back and she would not pay. I left a very dissatisfied customer. Thanks again American Airlines.
All in all I would say that when faced with the choice to fly American Airlines... or wrap my lips around the muffler of a Grayhound Bus and be dragged naked through a field of cactus all the way to Amarillo, I would choose the latter. At least the bus/cactus dragging wouldn't cost me an extra $40.
Flying Southwest from now on,
Walker
