I began this series of Spain travel posts complaining of air travel and it seems only fitting to mention something of our flight home.  It’s usually easier to endure the normal air travel discomforts when the destination at the other end is your own comfortable home. However,  the airline not to be outdone by any sense of good will we could muster came up with a new discomfort factor for our return leg of the flight.

Shortly after take-off we discovered our seats were among a large group, on our side of the aircraft, which were electronically disconnected from the aircraft  — no lights, no audio, no call button…zero, nothing and there were no overhead controls.  It was significant enough the aircrew radio ahead to Charlotte, NC, aircraft maintenance to see what they should/could do. Maintenance, believe it or not, told them to look under the affected seats for something unplugged — hence the photo below.  This grainy, shaky cell phone photo is of two of the flight attendants who, while going far beyond the call of duty, are laying flat in the isle and under the seats, while the flight is underway, looking for a loose plug which was never found.  This situation certainly gave us a lot of confidence in the mechanical dependability of the rest of the plane.

Loose wire, loose wire, where's the loose wire, flight attendants trying to fix unplugged seat on  a fright from Madrid, Spain, to Charlotte, NC.
Loose wire, loose wire, where’s the loose wire, flight attendants trying to fix unplugged seats on a fright from Madrid, Spain, to Charlotte, NC.

Beating all odds we did arrive safely home.

There will be one additional summery post on the Spain trip which will explain our impressions of Spain and what we’ve discovered and learned about ourselves and the world in general through our travels. 

 

 

4 Comments

  1. Well, it’s probably a good thing that the problem wasn’t with something outside the aircraft! Those sound like the sorts of inconveniences that happen to me. Plus, that the person in front of me is always the only person on the plane who needs to recline his seat.

    Glad you made it home safely!

  2. The joys of air travel! Strange how I have little inclination to travel by air anymore. Could be burnout from disgruntled passengers because their reading light does not work or the seat does not recline or whatever makes them unhappy. Safety is fisrt, comforts are second whigh is not always what they want. Glad you enjoyed your trip except for the air travel and the food.

  3. Hey Earl, at least they weren’t duct tapping the door to keep it closed!