Gulp. This photo made the rounds of the 'Net last week. It shows a US Airways 767 taking off from Schiphol airport in Amsterdam...it's flight 43, en route to Philadelphia. Shortly after takeoff, engine #1 had a "compressor stall", and flames started shooting out of it.
Turns out a compressor stall is a fairly minor sort of problem, although it certainly looks scary. And, I recently found out from my mother that my cousin Cindy and her husband Bob were on the plane, heading home after a Dutch vacation. They were sitting on the left side, looking out over the wing...and the flaming engine.
Fortunately, the plane wasn't in any danger, the pilot was able to make an emergency landing back at AMS, and fear turned to frustration as they were stuck at Schiphol for 24 hours while the aircraft was repaired. (And, quite understandably, Cindy and Bob declined to fly back to the US on the same plane.) I'm glad they're okay.
Wow. That's really scary looking. Glad it all turned out ok for them. And gee, I can't imagine why they wouldn't want to fly back to the States on the same plane. Go figure. :)
Posted by: czeltic girl | December 05, 2005 at 06:03 PM