A good time was had by all
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, November 9, 2005
That’s the gist of this story http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/11/10/quest.record/ filed by CNN reporter Richard Quest, who was on board Boeing’s record-setting 777-200LR flight.
Key Quote (I know there’s one here somewhere): “For our trip — well, we had the opportunity to watch more than 60 films. Most of us didn’t watch any. Interesting conversations were constantly being started up about which plane or airline or route was doing what. And before long ad hoc discussions abounded.”
On the other hand, this International Herald Tribune story http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/10/news/flight.php has a lot of interesting and useful information.
Key Quote: “As the plane flew over Las Vegas, Tariq Kirmani, the chairman of Pakistan International Airlines … called the plane to say PIA was considering an increase in its order, to six planes.”
And this fun annecdote: “As the plane passed over the U.S. East Coast, word began to spread of a new record in the making. First a nearby Continental crew, then crews from American and El Al radioed to
wish the Boeing crew good luck, according to (test pilot Frank) Santoni. Some air-traffic controllers expressed confusion that a Hong Kong-London flight would take the eastbound route, then joined in the good wishes when told that the record was hours away.”
And this one: “In a last-minute twist, air traffic controllers at London’s congested Heathrow Airport put the plane into a brief holding pattern before allowing it to land — with apologies.”
The Herald Tribune also noted that the passengers toasted the flight with bottles of Washington sparkling wine, not champagne. No Frog juice on this flight. (And for those of you who haven’t tried it — Domaine Ste. Michelle makes a pretty nice family of affordably priced sparkling wines.)
Several news agencies reported the plane was helped by strong tailwinds across the Pacific. Reuters http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2005-11-10T160213Z_01_HO057705_RTRUKOC_0_US-TRANSPORT-BOEING-777.xml added this:
Key Quote: “Captain Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, one of the pilots, said the plane had two hours of fuel left when it landed. Asked why they did not keep going, she said: ‘You have to declare your route before you set off.’”
