Back today for a two day trip. Day one was scheduled for three legs....DFW to El Paso, back to DFW and then once again to Mexico City.
I signed in with a few minutes to spare, checked the weather, looked over the maintenance history of our plane, printed out our flight plan and then rode the DFW train over to terminal C where our plane was arriving from Denver.
When I checked in with our gate agent she advised me that we would have five passengers traveling with cats in the cabin. This was going to be interesting! We generally carry larger animals such as medium to large dogs in the forward cargo compartment. It is pressurized and heated so the animals are comfortable. If the animal is small enough, it is allowed to be carried in the cabin in a pet carrier so long as it can fit under the seat.
Every once in a while, I'll see someone carrying a cat on board with them but it's not a common occurrence. And when they do come along, they (the cats) usually get pretty noisy. Sometimes worse than crying babies! Today would be no exception....So when I was told that we'd have five cats today I was pretty surprised. We had a full flight and even as the passengers were boarding I could hear a couple of unhappy cats complaining. We taxied over to the west side and launched for ELP under a beautiful sky. Even with all the noise in the cockpit, I could still hear a cat in the cabin...I think it was in the first class cabin since it was pretty loud. It must have been a miserable flight for the passengers...probably for the cats too!
The rest of the day went smoothly. El Paso was having a nice day and the hills east of the airport were just starting to show some shadows from the upcoming sunset. I made the landing on runway 22 and we had a short wait to cross another runway while a Southwest Boeing 737 took off. Made it to the gate on time and before long we were taxiing back out for takeoff.
Back to DFW with no cats this time, then a night flight to Mexico City and once again we walked over to our hotel. One of the receptionists even recognized me this time.... I guess I'm becoming a regular visitor.
For a look at some more of my photos, please visit Plane & Simple
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Too Many Cats!!
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2 comments:
You might want to go to http://www.observatorybooks.com/alaska_is_different.htm and read how a couple of bush pilots solved their cat problem in "The cat, the dog, and the dynamite". The second story is especially amusing.
On the GV we don't have a cockpit door. There is a door further aft towards the cabin. On one particular flight we had a cat onbard and it made its way up to the cockpit. The little guy found a comfy spot under my seat. He didn't make to much noise. Just an occasional meow which was an odd sound to hear in the cockpit. I had to remember to get the cat out before I moved and lowered my seat.
That must have been tough on the pax if you were able to hear that thing up front. Cat's can sure make some strange noises. I've got 3 em and they aren't all friends.
Darren
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