September 15, 2006
Overheard in D.C.: Geography is Fundamental
Air travel has always been our favorite venue for eavesdropping. Whether it's the close quarters, the frayed nerves, or the voices raised to account for popped ears, people's tongues seem to wag a bit more freely. And that’s without even mentioning the gems coming over the intercom from the bored pilot who maybe had a pre-flight cocktail. We once heard the captain explain that a delay was due to a flight attendant’s sudden need to leave, as she had to attend to a relative who had “started to die.” Unsurprisingly, two of this week's best Overheard entries come from air travellers.
Quote of the Week
Woman to flight attendant on exiting a flight from D.C. to Charlotte, N.C.:
"Are we still in the same time zone as D.C.? I've got a connection..."
After the jump, D.C.'s hippest law professor, Washington "Flyer" redefined, and if you hope for it, it might just come true.
We want to hear what you've overheard, in the friendly skies or otherwise. Send it to overheardindc (at) gmail (dot) com.
Photo by Flickr user birdcage.
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Couldn't we just take a cab?
After circling the Dulles airport for several minutes to wait for a thunderstorm to end...
US Air pilot: Well, folks, it doesn't look like this storm will be ending any time soon. We've been instructed to land at Reagan National to re-fuel and wait out the storm before continuing on to Dulles.
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We can't wait to hear him argue his first case.
GW Law Student: "Man, people love that professor, yo. People be like 'DID YOU SEE HIS TEXTBOOK, SON?! That shit is ILL.' It's ridiculous..."
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In some offices, the difference between 8:59 and 9:01 is of utmost importance.
Woman #1 to metro doors as they close in front of her after running up the escalator: "DAMN IT! You couldn't have just waited one more second, you jerk?!"
This is followed with pounding on the door with her fist, making some poor lady inside nearly jump out of her skin and then shaking that fist menacingly at the conductor.
Woman #2 who also didn't make it on: "I hate it when that happens, it always makes me late for work."
A quick check of the arrival sign reveals that there are three more trains due within the next five minutes.
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Apparently, "Beauty Pageant Winner After a Serious Bender" is the latest in prostitution couture.
Woman #1: "What are you going to be for Halloween?"
Woman #2: "Miss Understood."
Woman #1: "Is that a character you invented?"
Woman #2: "Yeah. She has a sash and a tiara and smeared lipstick and ripped leggings!"
Woman #1: "Creative. So... kind of like a hooker?"
Woman #2: "Yep, but I still have to buy all the Miss Understood accoutrement."
Woman #1: "You still have to buy all the hooker accoutrement? ... I hope somebody overheard that."
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I believe that the pilot one is highly suspect...and should qualify as a punch line.
For instance, wouldn’t the same thunder storm interrupt DCA traffic patterns? And if it was an isolated storm, it’s hard to imagine it sitting over an area for an extended period of time forcing planes to divert to DCA. If they did I would call the FAA ASAP since the USair flight was dangerously low on fuel. Plus I don’t remember any thunder storms in the last week or so.
It's not exactly the same, but I know one evening a couple of BWI flights were diverted to Dulles because of the weather. Of course, my plane was sent to Norfolk instead to refuel.
I don't think it's really outside the realm of possibilities for a plane to have to head to National before landing at Dulles, if it needed to refuel.
Jay,
I agree. Totally possible.
I don't know if it still exists, but at least 5 years ago or so, United actually had a scheduled flight from Dulles to BWI. I'm not making this up. I remember reading about it in the Post travel section.
Yep, happened to me in reverse -- my plane was supposed to land at National but got routed to Dulles because of a storm.
Then we spent about an hour sitting on the plane waiting to refuel and fly back to National, until the passengers practically rioted and they brought a people mover and let us get off.
Plus I don’t remember any thunder storms in the last week or so.
Can't you just hear the grumpiness in this sentence? People who try to fact check Overheard just crack my shit up.
When my plane from Dulles to Atlanta was cancelled during the ValuJet shutdown in 1996, I had to drive to National, then take a flight to BWI, thence to Atlanta.
i was looking up flights to buenos aires on orbitz the other day, and it recommended DCA-LGA-IAD-EZE, for about $4500. when i changed it from DCA to IAD, it was only about $1400. who knew it could cost $3100 to get from reagan to dulles?
I've had simliar stupid diversions on flights (though not involving DC-bound flights). So it's not out of the realm of possibility.
United used to or still does operate a San Jose to San Francisco flight. Which would faster than driving only during rush hour, but you'd probably still have to drive through crappy traffic to get to the airport.
Of course it's possible. I was on a flight that was routed to Dulles to wait out a storm at DCA. Luckily, though, they pulled up to a gate and let people out if they didn't want to wait (of course, if you had checked luggage you were pretty much stuck). Another time they routed my flight to BWI because of an equipment problem, and they expected us to wait while they fixed the plane before flying back to DCA. After a revolt, they let us out--but again they wouldn't give people their luggage.
Some years ago, spouse won a weekend in Montreal, including air fare. The first leg was from National to BWI. While taxiing (which took forever) to the end of the runway at National, I remarked "Are we driving to Baltimore?"
Also, some airline used to do a "hop" from National to Dulles I'm pretty sure. Talk about a short flight: "You may now move about the cabin....OK, that's it, sit down and restore your seat backs and tray tables to upright position!"
Please tell me the GW law student was saying this jokingly. Otherwise, I'll forever wonder how I was waitlisted there.