Aviation Thread (https://www.reforestnation.ie/offset-your-carbon)

First of all I don’t want this thread confined to Fingallians. We may be the home of Irish aviation but others should express their thoughts too.

I’d like for people to rate their airport and airline experiences here but not to be waffling about bookings etc. It should be restricted to more aeronautical matters.

Anyway I had experience with two Aer Lingus pilots today. We had Captain Jimmy this morning (Bandage will remind me of his surname) and he was nervy and unconvincing throughout. He went so far as to express doubts over his ability to land the plane in a light fog which put less frequent travellers into an uneasy state.

By contrast Captain Ross Concannon was a model of professionalism on the journey home. He was efficient aerially and on the apron area, taking great care throughout but not at the expense of speed. Smooth and swift. A terrific performance and I’d have no hesitation in recommending him for one of the more prestigious routes.

I flew into Paris tonight. Landed in CDG, must be the most horrible airport on earth. The pilot was a woman.

Anyone have any details of the alleged buzzing of Gormanston airfield by the RAF some years ago? Did it happen?

A JetBlue flight to Las Vegas was forced to make an emergency landing after its captain suffered a breakdown and reportedly began screaming about terrorism before being subdued by passengers.
The unnamed pilot was said to have been kicked out of the cockpit by his crew around three hours after Flight 191 took off from New York’s John F Kennedy airport.

Witnesses said he became highly agitated and tried to access the cabin’s intercom system before coming into the cabin and trying to break to into a locked toilet.

Flight attendants tried to restrain him but he broke free and tore up the aisle to the run of the plane, reportedly screaming “Iraq[/url], [url=“http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Al-Qaeda”]al-Qaeda, terrorism, we’re all going down” and “Say your prayers”.

“It seemed like he went crazy,” one passenger said.

The pilot, who is well over six feet tall, was jumped on by a group of up to 10 passengers, who were able to hold him down while the flight was diverted to Rick Husband Amarillo[/url] airport in [url=“http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Texas”]Texas[/url]. Among the passengers was a retired [url=“http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/New_York_Police_Department”]New York Police Department sergeant.

An off-duty JetBlue pilot who was aboard the flight took the controls of the aircraft.

In a statement, Jet Blue said the plane was diverted due to a “a medical situation involving the captain”.

“Another captain, traveling off duty, entered the flight deck prior to landing at Amarillo and took over the duties of the ill crew member once on the ground,” the company said.

The FBI is investigating the incident but a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration said it seemed “more of a medical issue than a security issue”.

video available here http://www.independent.ie/world-news/americas/passengers-restrain-pilot-after-midflight-breakdown-3063206.html

Thing that struck me about CDG is the non proximity of toilets to the departure gates. About a 10 minute walk each way.

The best Airport to Fly into and out of is Farranfore.

The front door to the departure gate is about 50m and takes the grand total of 5 mins. You could comfortably rock in there 20mins before your flight is due to depart and never have to rush.

The smaller the airport, the better the experience these days. The massive hubs (Heathrow, CDG, Frankfurt) etc are painful. The one exception to this is Singapore.

A couple of points of clarification:

  1. The captain on Sunday’s Dublin to Glasgow International Aer Lingus flight was Jimmy Flanagan. What a bedwetter.

  2. My most uncomfortable moment ever on an airplane was on a Dublin to Edinburgh Aer Lingus flight a few years ago. Rocko and I were boarding and one of the air hostesses told us there was traffic jam up along the aisle due to people storing luggage in the overhead cabins etc. The cockpit door was open so she kept the rest of the boarding passengers behind us standing on the steps outside the plane and asked myself and Rocko to move left into the edge of the cockpit until the jam in the aisle abated. At that stage the captain swung around on his chair and started shouting and roaring telling us it was a security breach and to get out of the cockpit immediately. Captain Barney O’Reilly - what a dick.

[quote=“tallback, post: 668270”]

The smaller the airport, the better the experience these days. The massive hubs (Heathrow, CDG, Frankfurt) etc are painful. The one exception to this is Singapore.[/quote]Heathrow is a fucking dose alright. Stansted is now my airport of choice for London.

Newark is a fine and underrated gateway to NYC or a grand spot for a connecting flight. LAX is possibly the worst airport I have ever been in but then again I’ve only ever travelled in the developed world. I’m sure there are worse airports in darkest Africa.

A medical issue? Are they trying to say that suicide bombers and attempted suicide bombers are mentally stable? How do you make the distinction?

As for Captain Barney O’Reilly, that’s got to be a fake name :lol:

London City Airport is a cracking airport to get through quickly if you can find a decent fare. It leaves you close to the centre too. Steep enough landing descent though and a take-off like a carrier which all adds to the craic.

Best looking airport I was ever in was Oslo. Beautiful altogether.

Biggest shithole is Birmingham. Manchester not far off. Prestwich too.

Surpise airport as in “this place ain’t bad” for me is Bristol

+1 on Prestwick, an awful hole. Most of those Ryanair UK airports are awful places - East Midlands another that comes to mind along with Durham Tees Valley.

Abu Dhabi & Bangkok some of the nicer ones I’ve been in. Nicest was in Koh Samui where the baggage carousels are in open huts with straw roofs outside the main building.

Durham Tees Valley is a good shout. Horrible airport.

I was there too, class spot. Bumpy enough landing though

This reminded me of this article. Some mad places to be flying to.

http://www.oddee.com/item_93109.aspx

I have found Birmingham, Manchester, Prestwick, Liverpool, Blackpool, London City, Edinburgh and Gatwick to be unremarkable airports to the point of being vaguely tolerable.

Waterford airport and Cork airport are grand little spots as well. T2 at DublIn has to be the grandest waste of cash ever perpetrated in this country. Two half empty terminals instead of one thriving one.

you should not have left non fingalians on this thread rocko

mac “x is a nice airport”
runt"yes it is, but y isnt"

FFS

As someone living only 6 miles from Shannon airport I am more than qualified to participate in this thread.

My biggest regret of recent days mate.