Mad MAX: loose bolts

What is going on, Boeing? I can’t believe I am reading about issues with the 737 MAX again. This time, it’s the MAX 9 model: an entire side panel of the plane just blowing out in mid-air. That is some scary stuff. Thank heavens no one died this time.

Because the 737 MAX 8 debacle back in 2019 was supremely deadly. Two such planes stalled in the sky, and plunged everyone onboard to their deaths. You’d think Boeing would have thoroughly learned from those tragedies. Apparently not, I guess! The same generation of 737 is now back in the news, and the entire world fleet of MAX 9 planes are currently grounded.

Perhaps the MAX 10 will finally be the sweet spot!

Or more likely, Boeing will have to rebrand the 737 entirely. The MAX designation is forever tainted with horror and engineering incompetence. (Fool me twice, shame on me.) Heck, maybe even the 737 numbers might require changing. Next time you get on a domestic flight and see the 737 MAX designation on the safety pamphlet: wouldn’t you get slightly nervous? I certainly would. I want to be sure the airplane has got the sufficient amount of phalanges before takeoff.

Good news for me: the planes I am taking to China next month is made by AirBus.

As a person with immense fear of heights, a plane plunging into the ground (mechanical fault or otherwise) is one of my mortal nightmares. I understand that flying is statically super safe, and that I would be in way more danger driving a car on the road. But the emotional brain still sends those nervous signals nevertheless, every time I get on an airplane. I’m the guy who claps when it lands safely.

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Best side.

Flying is not so fun

I was never one for flying; my superb fear of heights simply won’t allow me to enjoy being in a metal tube 30,000 feet in the air completely. That said I was never one to complain about the experience in total, and in fact I quite rather like being on a plane, blasting through five consecutive movies I otherwise would not have watched ever.

Somehow that all changed during this last trip to China just a few weeks ago. For whatever reason the time spent on the plane felt like the longest slog ever. The dryness, the compression, the turbulence, and the hours remaining to destination that seemed endless: it all pummeled me into abject misery this time around. What the heck happened? I was the guy that used to get off a plane after a 12 hours journey and headed straight to work.

Perhaps it’s old age: my aging body simply can’t deal with the adverse conditions any longer? I don’t think being stuck in economy class mattered much: I’ve flew first class before, and the the extra space doesn’t negate the negativities of the sealed-off environment high up in the atmosphere. You’re not all of the sudden going to feel less dehydration just because your seat can lie completely flat, even with the bottomless champagne.

I hate to admit this, but maybe the days of 15 hour flights not effecting me are gone. I won’t be able to get off the plane afterwards and be ready to tackle the day. I am going to need time to recover after these long-haul flights, which will encroach on the actual vacation time itself (one day of rest means one less day of travel/sightseeing).

Airplane manufacturers really should take a look at supersonic again.

The stage is set.

That time I missed my flight from Korea

It's once again the month of May, and it had me thinking about a year ago when I traveled to Korea. It was a wonderful trip of a lifetime and you should definitely check out the photos here.

While reminiscing about the trip I was reminded of the hilarious incident we had in catching the flight back to America. There were three of us on the trip and yet somehow we all managed to misinterpret the flight time. It was definitely not a good showing for the male section of the species. 

For whatever reason, the flight time were shown using military time. Our flight was printed at 20:00 hours which simple math equates to 8:00pm in the evening. We like to think of ourselves as persons of intelligence but we completely miscalculated and thought the flight was 10:00pm. 

With that in mind we naturally got to the airport a bit before 8pm. Upon looking at the giant departure board and not finding our flight I double-checked the reservation and realize to horror the huge mistake. We made a dash for Korean Air counter but it was too late: not enough time remained to get us through customs and security. 

Even under such misfortune due to self stupidity we lucked out: we got to the check-in counter before the airplane left the ground, which meant we were able to rebook to the next available flight at no extra cost. Had the flight already taken off we would've squandered the plane ticket and had to then pay again for the next one. 

So apart from a slightly wounded pride and the costs of an extra night of hotel (and a very angry girlfriend for my friend), it was a good learning episode and I doubt any of us will ever misread a departure time ever again.