~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |\^/| _| TCA |_ B E T W E E N O U R S E L V E S _|\| AIR |/|_ N E T L E T T E R > CANADA < >_./|\._< for Air Canada retirees | Our crew is: Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson Chief Navigator - Terry Baker number 145 date April 13th 1997 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . Welcome to Beverley Olds, who was a former TCA employee from Winnipeg (l951-l961), spending time in records at YWG airport maintenance and also downtown in Reservations and the final year as a passenger agent at YWG terminal. Beverley is now in Victoria email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . George Brien send us this - A DAY TO REMEMBER AT YARMOUTH NS This article appeared in "Between Ourselves" back in 1972 . I was doing a 3-4 month acting Stn Mgr assignment at the time that I wrote this. I will take the liberty of expanding on my original version which had been edited somewhat. To set the scenerio : Iberia flt 951/11Nov enroute MAD/JFK, just east of YQI at cruising altitude, time 1430 AST, when Iberia Operations in NYC received a call that a bomb was on board and would go off by 1500 AST. Forty thousand feet below, the AC staff at YQI ( which consisted of 3 Station Agents, 1 mechanic, and 1 Station Attendant), were relaxing between flights. This consisted of a DC9 flight YHZ/YSJ/YQI/BOS and return, with the occasional Vanguard freighter uplifting loads of live lobsters for the European market. Airport facilities consisted of at 6000 Ft main runway 06/24 and 5000 Ft 15/33 and approved for acft weighing less than 200,000 lbs. The terminal was built inside an old hanger, similar to YYJ in the fifties, with a capacity of around 100 people. At 1440, our staff became aware that an Iberian flight was going to attempt an emergency landing and no further details were available as to type of equipment etc. but at 1455 AST the aircraft made a pass over the airport/town at low level (and when a jumbo jet passes over at 500 feet, it attracts attention!). The first reaction from our stafff was: "well, not much chance of landing here, we still consider a DC9 a big jet!!!" About 1457 AST, the jumbo did a short and final run on Runway 24, and with everything dragging, quickly came to a stop in about 3000ft. All emergency chutes were immediately deployed and people began sliding out in all directions, quickly moving away from the aircraft. A briefing from Capt Arango later revealed that the only chance to get on the ground before 1500 was an emergency decent direct to YQI and hope for the best. Only when he was on finals did Iberia Flt Opns realize that the aircraft was probably 600,000 lbs overweight for the runway and they might end up being a permament tourist attraction at YQI. The passenger load of 241 and crew of 18 were brought into the terminal, using the only means of transportation available at that time, a train of baggage carts and the aircraft was sealed off by the RCMP. No bomb was found. The job of what to do next began. At this time the waiting room, customs hall etc looked like a mob scene from the movie "Quo Vadis". After the initial excitement, most people wanted a cup of coffee or soft drink and the chief purser contacted us to see what could be provided. Because of Customs and Immigrations regulations, the passengers had to remain at the airport, so how do you feed and drink 259 people on a holiday afternoon with no restaurant and no loaves of bread or fishes to feed the multitude? The first call to a local restaurant for 260 coffees to go put them in a state of shock and it appeared that they couldn't cope with anything like this, so we called the local fire dept who contacted a mobile canteen operator. This was set up outside the exit door with curbside coffee, sandwiches etc. now available. A look at the bill later ( which was added to IB951's ground handling bill) showed 348 hamburgers, 325 hotdogs, 990 cups of coffee, 140 sandwiches plus pop, donuts and pies were consumed between 1600 and 0200 the next morning. At 1800, the real work of deciding how to get the passengers to JFK, and what to do with the 747. Already many calls back and forth to IB opns had been made, with suggestions of them diverting an Iberia stretched DC8 into YQI (aborted when they rechecked the runway length) to bussing passengers to YHZ (5 hour drive) and finally chartered 3 Air Canada DC9's. A chartered Learjet had already arrived from JFK with technical and Spanish speaking passenger service staff and by 2200, the first two DC9 were ready to load and leave. One interesting event happened when AC Flt Despatch requested to know if the 747 could be moved off the active runway so the DC9's would have the use of 6000ft. With the Spanish laid back attitude, the crew said "No sweat", and taxied it clear. In the meantime, all cabin baggage etc was removed from the 747 and it was refuelled (requiring many trips by the single AVGAS truck) and at 0200 AST the last DC9 was loaded and held. The engineer did his last calculations, showing an all up weight of about 660,000lbs. The moment of truth had arrived. Was IB951 going to be a permament fish & chips stand at the airport, or would it fly again? With full power, and blowing runway lights out behind it, IB951 began its run, and standing on the tarmac about 300ft away, I still remember the IB engineer jumping up in the air beside me with a shout of relief as the aircraft lifted off at about 3200 ft.. Within 15 minutes, the last DC9 was gone, followed by the Learjet, and the only thing left was lots of empty coffee cups, a few empty bottles of Spanish wine, plus a couple of full ones that I found in my desk drawer the next morning. George Brien ~-=O0O=-~ . News from the Districts - The U.K. Monthly newsletter welcomes the following Pionairs Allan Todd ex Area Sales - Glasgow. John & Irene Oliver ex Cargo Toronto now residing in Ipswich UK. Brian & Nancy Wallace ex Cargo Heathrow. ~-=o0o=-~ . Interline stuff. Family Affaire sell off Toronto - Dallas at CA$99. Call Employee Call Centre 1-800-413-1113 for details. Airport departure tax commences today at Edmonton. Internal Alberta CA$5.00, leaving Alberta CA$10.00. Hawaii Islands Cruises on Carnival Cruise Lines...from only $599us Double April 21 - 11 day Cruise - Ensenada, Fun days at Sea, Kauai, Maui, Hilo, Kona, Honolulu May 2 - 12 day Cruise - Honolulu, Maui, Kona, Hilo, Maui, Fun days at sea, Vancouver Phone 1-800-665-3100 to Book now! Remember to mention Pionair. ~-=-o0o=-~ . Smilies. SHORT FINAL... Some Boeing employees recently "liberated" a life raft from one of the 747s on the company's production line. Later, they took it for a float on the Stilliguamish river. Imagine their surprise when a Coast Guard helicopter "rescued" them after homing in on the emergency locator beacon that activated when the raft was inflated. Not surprisingly, they no longer work at Boeing. ~-=o0o=-~ . That's it for this time, please we need your input, send comments and email addresses of any others who may be interested to Vesta with a copy to Terry. -!- Landing on an Island in the Pacific. _____(~)_____ ! ! ! <<<>>> Air Canada Pionairs ~Between Ourselves-Netletter~ http://www.mortimer.com/acra mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ................................................... . GREETINGS FROM . . Vancouver Island . . BEAUTIFUL B.C. CANADA . ...................................................
