I walked out of my motel room this morning to see an Emirates A380 heading straight towards me so I grabbed my camera and took a few photos,
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| EMIRATES A380-861 A6-EDD (CN 020) |
While I was waiting for my rep to arrive and pick me up I noticed a Malaysian A330 coming in also.
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| MALAYSIAN A330-323 9M-MTC (CN 1229) |
On our way to the office I see an Air Asia X flying towards us so I grabbed a photo from the car.
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| AIR ASIA X A330-343 9M-XXA (CN 952) |
Getting to the office we were only there for about 10 minutes but I managed to get a few more arrivals.
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| VIETNAM B787-9 VN-A870 (CN 39289) |
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| HANIAN A330-323 B-6546 (CN 1303) |
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| CHINA SOUTHERN A330-323 B-5939 (CN 1494) |
Leaving the office we had to drive on the outskirts of the city on the way for an appointment .
After a very busy but freezing cold day I was dropped back at the airport at 3pm for my 4pm flight, I cleared security and raced up to the Qantas club for something to eat and a drink.
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EMIATES A380-861 A6-EDD (CN 020)
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| SINGAPORE B777-312 9V-SWJ (CN 34575) |
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| QANTAS A330-202 VH-EBV (CN 1365) |
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| QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q400 VH-QOC (CN 4117) |
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| REX SAAB 340B VH-ZJS (CN 340B-186) |
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| QANTAS B737-838 VH-XZJ (CN 39365) |
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| EMIRATES A380-861 A6-EOL (CN 186) |
I made my way down to gate 9 where our 737-838 had just arrived from Adelaide. The threat of a severe thunderstorm was real and I was seriously hoping to get away before it hit Melbourne.
We boarded 10 minutes late at 3.51pm and I took my seat which was 25A this time. The flight was full and the last cabin door wasn't closed until 4.20pm. We pushed back 4.23 and at 4.28 we taxied out to the holding point for runway 27 and held short of the runway. But after about 6 minutes I began thinking "what's going on" a few minutes after that the captain said "there was an issue they are trying to fix and will come back to us shortly". Then 10 minutes later he came out from the cockpit and addressed the passengers and said "there was an issue with the aircraft and we have to return to the gate" ... you could hear the disappointment in the passengers. He said "The heater in the cockpit windows weren't working and due to the severe weather the temperature is colder than normal", he said "if we leave the windows might crack causing an emergency descent and diversion". He went on to say it could be fixed within 20 minutes or 90 minutes depending on the issue.
After returning to the same gate at 4.55 the engineers boarded and luckily for us this issue was fixed within 20 minutes. Hearing the problem was fixed some passengers cheered and clapped.. The cabin door was closed at 5.18pm and we pushed back at 5.20pm. At 5.24 we began taxing again and with the weather now hitting the airport we didn't waste anytime. Getting to the runway we had a rolling start and got airborne at 5.31pm (1 hour 31 minutes later). I was thinking we should have been on descent into Brisbane by now. The climb out was as expected bumpy and rough. 27 /09 is a east west runway so taking off to the east we banked to the right and headed north to Brissy.
Our flight took us up over Wagga Wagga and Tamworth and onto Casino. Even though we were now flying in a dinner time slot dinner was not served as it wasn't catered for, we were offered a savoury or sweet snack and any drink we liked. I opted for the cheese and biscuits and a white wine. The flight was constantly bumpy with slight to moderate turbulence. Then the call came over "Cabin crew be seated immediately" and yep it got real hairy as the turbulence went from moderate to severe for around 3-4 minutes.. but when your in it seems like a ages. The flight smoothed out and all was good again. We began our descent at 6.55pm and coming in over our home and Archerfield we landed on runway 01 at 7.27. In all the flights I have had over the years this was is the first time I can remember where I had to return to the gate. Qantas do a great job and I would rather arrive home to my family late than never come home at all.
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