As a travel geek, quirks of timing excite me! Hawaiian Airlines 458, for example, left Japan on January 1st 2016 and arrived in Honolulu on December 31st, 2015. The A330 left at ten minutes past midnight right at the start of the New Year. Crossing the date line, the plane touched down at 1125am local time in Honolulu on the last day of their 2015. The plane was scheduled for 1155pm. Passengers were served a brunch as they travelled back in time!
Weird or Wonderful
Category Archives for Weird or Wonderful.
Airline fined for using ladder for passengers
34 passengers on a charter flight with Aero Contractors arriving at Nigeria’s Bauchi State International Airport from Abuja last Saturday used a builder’s ladder instead of airstairs to exit their chartered Boeing 737-500. (registration 5N-BLG). The video has gone viral. The airline has said that impatient passengers used the ladder, against the company’s wishes, when they found that the stairs were out of order. The paasnegres were on their way to a wedding and the group included the groom himself. The Nigerian government launched an investigation concerned that the passengers were ‘at high risk’ of serious injury. The result…
Qatar’s A350 Aborted takeoff-lets not exaggerate
Disaster? MegaFail? Embarrassment? Last week, Qatar Airway’s inaugural flight from New York’s JFK to Qatar had an aborted take off 18 seconds into acceleration. The jet’s computer system canceled it’s own takeoff — because it calculated that runway 22R was too short. Journalists and staff onboard the plane were filming the take off and watching it on their individual screens when the craft came to a juddering halt. Pillows from economy reportedly flew through the cabin. The Points Guy Editor-in-Chief Zach Honig reported that he and others were terrified. He and other passengers wanted to get off the plane…
Qantas Barbie travels world celebrating 95th Birthday
Qantas, the Australian airline is starting their 95th Birthday celebrations which will be celebrated on 16th November, 1920. The airline has launched a unique exhibition at the Qantas Club at Sydney Airport featuring a collection of 44 Barbie and Ken dolls all wearing one of the airline’s past and present uniforms. The dolls are part of a Powerhouse Museum collection that was created by John Willmott-Potts, a former member of the Qantas cabin crew member who sadly passed away in 201o. The dolls will then be touring around the world. Here they are outside the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Harbour…
Most amazing fireworks in the world
Where would you go for an amazing fireworks display? New York? Sydney? Dubai? To my surprise, I found it is actually in a small town of just 482 people called Gunning. Located in a rural area, 260 km (160 miles) south-west of Sydney, Australia. Why? Firework’s Australia the country’s largest firework’s distributor and organiser has two factories in the area and every year they organise the Gunning Fireworks Festival to demonstrate their newest and best bangs and colours. I went along for this year’s Festival last Saturday night and for almost two hours, small and large shells, rockets and mortars were…
Air NZ Men in Black Safety Video
Air New Zealand have released a new safety video which features members of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team rapping in a parody of “Men in Black”. Captain Richie McCaw and team member Dan Carter appear as “Men in Black” agents. Team mates Kieran Read, Keven Mealamu and Sam Whitelock can be spotted. Fullback Israel Dagg raps the in-flight briefing with Stan Walker, winner of the 2009 Australian Idol. American actor Rip Torn is the Men in Black chief. Other international rugby stars make appearances including former England Captain Martin Johnson as an alien with horns, David Campese of the Wallabies and…
Cathay Pacific emergency landing video- new trend?
Will it become a new trend for passengers to film or photograph their planes and themselves in emergency situations? What does it say of our voyeuristic tendencies if we watch these events especially if they occur in real time? Last week on July 29, a Cathay Pacific flight 884, a five year old Boeing 777-300ER (registration B-KPQ, travelling from Hong Kong to Los Angeles International Airport with 276 passengers and 18 crew diverted to U.S. Eareckson Air Station in Shemya, in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Before the emergency landing, passengers had been told to prepare for a ditching…
In flight thief hides booty in underwear
I always store my carry on bags in the overhead bin opposite me, not above me. This paranoid action means I can watch when someone opens the bin and rummages in a bag. Hopefully it is not my bag they are rummaging in. I operate on the premise that while most people are honest, passenger’s bags are brimming with phones, ipads, and cash which is a very tempting situation. On American Airlines flight 22 from Los Angeles to New York’s JFK last Wednesday, a a flight attendant’s iPad went missing. The iPad turned up in the carry-on of…
Poor behaviour, Jesus and Karma
As I stood at the Malaysia Airlines service desk at Sydney International Airport, a gentleman approached the counter and began apologising to the staff. The staff member he was addressing was clearly was not interested. She said: “Please take a seat Mr Jones -we will be done in a few minutes” As he walked away she giggled and said to the woman serving me and myself: “Jesus must have spoken to him“. The context : ten minutes before he had been told there was a problem with his ticket and the staff would need a…
Stealing from the Buffet
I was bemused while eating breakfast at a Phuket Hotel breakfast bar to observe a woman stuffing food into two bags. On her lap was a plastic bag. Into that bag she was placing fruit-both whole and pieces. On the table next to her was a paper bag into which she was shoving bread, croissants and dim sim. Have you ever taken food from a breakfast buffet for later? At what point should one finish? Is one piece of fruit okay-and a plastic bag unacceptable? Or is it all okay?/not okay? I have seen signs at…
Recent Comments