How many times have you been left stranded at airports because of unpredictable weather conditions or intricate and unmanageable travelling situations? A lot. And the more you travel, the more it happens. I have been thinking so many times about all things that happened to me in the last fifteen years of travels and commuting. Here are a few. At least, the ones I do remember.
Escape from the Hurricane. In Sept 2008 I was in Houston, attending a tech Conference. Two days after my arrival, Galveston and the south eastern area of the town were evacuated because the hurricane Ike was dangerously approaching. After long calls with travel operators I managed to get a first class ticket with Lufthansa, to fly back to Frankfurt. I left Texas and I shoot a couple of photos of the hurricane, approaching the coast (see featured photo). One day later, Ike hit Houston. The entire city was evacuated. My colleagues were stuck in the tentative of driving to Dallas to escape from a safer place – but three millions of Texans had their same idea.
Icy rain. Munich, several years ago. Flight stuck because of an unexpected icy rain. I had to wait a few hours before things were fixed and the plane was cleaned.
Birds. Yes, birds damaging airplane motors. Cannot remember where this happened, but we had to go back to the airport of origin few minutes after the departure.
Clandestine on board. Never understood how this happened, but ten minutes after boarding was completed two armed Police jumped on board and took one clandestine out. Cannot remember if it was in Germany or in the States. The plane was stuck for hours because of control and inspections. Still struggling to understand how the guy passed all controls and got on the plane.
The cat. Dallas, USA. A young girl and her cat were forced to leave a plane because of a lady complaining with the presence of the animal, mentioning her allergy to cats… The 2 ladies discussed intensively for a while, then flight attendants came, then the pilot came, then policemen came. It took three hours for the plane to leave the airport. Without the young lady and her cat.
More stories to come.