Don't Go Near The Volcano!

When I got up I looked out my window and could see the sun rising behind the mountains and sure enough, there was Mt Popocatepetl with a small ash cloud rising out of it. The plume was drifting away from the airport and appeared that it would not be a problem. I shot a photo of it through my window.



So I met up again with my FO and like the day before, we walked over to our operations office to get our flight plan, check on the weather, and get the latest reports on the volcano. Our plane had arrived the night before and was all set to go. Flight plan reviewed, crew documents in order, customs forms in hand and off through security we went. We both set off the metal detectors but the inspectors just waved us both through without a second glance. I just hoped that they were a little more thorough with passengers.


I made a quick trip through one of the many duty free shops to buy a small bottle of vanilla. A pint sized bottle only cost $4 No liquor this time. The cabinet is pretty full at home!










We taxied out again to runway 5R with a full load of passengers. 145 including the crew. In addition to the passengers, we were carrying about 1500 pounds of limes and lemons from Mexico to the US.... Muchas margaritas!



Passing 10,000 ft in the climb we broke through the smog and were in the clear. Off to the northeast the volcano was in view. The plume was small by now but still visible. My FO was flying this leg but he had the good view so I took the controls for a minute while he had camera duty. The smog is also clearly visible in the photo.


Two hours later we were back at DFW and clearing Customs again. Then off to Charlotte, North Carolina and back to DFW. While at DFW, it was nice out so I offered to do the preflight walk-around inspection. Normally the co-pilot does this but occasionally you will see a captain doing it. It is just a visual inspection of the aircraft that the pilot makes before taking a plane for a flight. The pilot is checking for anything that is visually wrong with the plane such as missing panels, dents, flat tires, oil leaks, gas leaks, etc.





Off to Charlotte and back and another crew meal. Chicken and pasta again. The menus only get changed about once a month. Same goes for the first class passengers. Many of the frequent fliers get tired of the same meals and end up bringing their own food sometimes. The pilots do the same.

Back from Charlotte by 10:00 PM and back home for one day off.

Be back soon.

Old Mexico

The maid came a knockin at 8:00 AM in spite of my "Do Not Disturb" sign on my door. So I got cleaned up and went downstairs for a buffet breakfast in the hotel. It was a little expensive at $20 so I got my money's worth! Four or five trips to the buffet line and I was stuffed! The papaya was extra good.



I met up with my FO and we walked over to the airport and waited for our plane to arrive from Dallas. It was slightly delayed because of the continuing ash cloud from the erupting Mt Popocatepetl. But we soon boarded and were headed out for runway 5R.



Mexico City has an elevation of over 7,000 ft. Airplanes must use much more runway for takeoff than at normal elevations because of the less dense air. So the takeoff rolls seem endless. Our liftoff speed was right at 170 MPH. Not much runway left in case of an abort! The climb took us out towards the northeast and up over Tampico and then northbound along the Gulf coast. Back in United States airspace over Brownsville, Texas then over San Antonio before the descent for DFW.




Through Customs again and back to the same gate for a return trip to Mexico City. Next door to us was an American Airlines Boeing 777 being loaded up for a trip to Frankfurt, Germany. Look at the size of the engine! It is as wide as the cabin of an MD-80. Lots of tires too...6 on each side.


So back south again to Mexico City. This time it was a little earlier but still a night flight. The enroute weather was good and we made good time at 34,000 ft. The trip took us over the cities of Waco, Corpus Christi, and McAllen, TX. Then after crossing the Rio Grande river we passed over the cities of Reynosa, Ciudad Victoria, Tamuin, and Pachuca before starting the descent for MEX. The volcano was still active and causing a few traffic delays but we made it OK. We even had a real gate this time and Customs went a lot smoother.

My head hit the pillow this time at 10:00 PM

Bienvenidos a Mexico (Welcome To Mexico)

Passport ready, a few pesos in my pocket, lots and lots of patience, and I thought I was ready for this trip.

It started on Friday with a quick turnaround to New Orleans and back. Then we loaded up a full plane for Mexico City. On board that night were quite a few Dallas Cowboys fans that had come up for the game the previous night. Dallas had beaten the Green Bay Packers in Irving, Tx. The fans seemed very happy and were in good spirits. It was apparent that many of them had done a lot of Christmas shopping because they had a bunch of gifts and stuff on board with them.

While I was reviewing our flight plan our dispatcher called to advise me that there was an ongoing eruption of Mt Popocatepetl near Mexico City. No lava, just ash...but ash is bad for airplanes. Jet engines will not run when any ash is ingested. So now we had to determine where the ash cloud was so we could avoid it. It was a night flight so we couldn't rely on visual indications so we had to accept the Mexican authorities reports. They were reporting that the ash plume was drifting away from the airport and would not be a problem. Mexico City is famous for it's pollution problem and we can always expect to have to fly a complete instrument approach because of the smog problem. But tonight the concern would be the ash cloud.
So off we went and climbed up to 33,000 ft and enjoyed a smooth dinner flight to Mexico City.
I had the chicken and my FO had something that resembled pasta.


Arrival traffic was pretty heavy even though we were arriving at just before midnight. Apparently the ash cloud was causing some problems with air traffic control and the arrivals were all having to be routed via the same arrival route in order to avoid the ash.

After the instrument approach and landing we were told by the control tower that there were no gates available and that we would have to park at a remote parking spot and use buses to get everyone to the terminal. After waiting for 30 minutes for the buses to arrive, we were finally on our way through customs and immigration. The lines were extremely long due to a problem with the passport scanners. Every passenger was taking about 5 minutes each to get processed. Then to top it all off, the customs folks decided to inspect all the crew's baggage. What???

Not the passengers...the crew's!!


I shot a photo of my FO having his suitcase searched. I asked one of them what they were looking for and they said "contraband".......Why would an airline crew member bring contraband into a country like Mexico we all thought? Or any country for that matter.

I considered protesting but thought better of it. The thought of an airport hotel room sounded better than being detained by the authorities in a Mexican jail.

Our hotel is located across the street from the airport so we all walked over to it. At least the check in went smoothly....My head hit the pillow just before 2:00 AM.