KLM_India
Oct 20, 02, 7:40 pm
Quick Notes (DEL-JDH is 1 Paragraph because I was sick) (I actually went through Mumbai 5 times) It felt like more than 6 times though! Codes at the end.
August 9th, 2002
ORD-EWR AA#1306 Seats 17D-F Fokker 100 9:45-12:54 NI477L K6A
Hello All! Well, we left for ORD at 7:20 and we got there around 7:45. We are booked on American flight number 1306. It's a Fokker 100. We checked in and sent our 3 bags to EWR. We went through security and walked to K6A. We waited for our plane which was arriving from Montreal. When we got there were people going to IAH were still there. Their plane wasn't there. We waited for about 20 minutes and then I went to go look at the monitors and our gate changed to H16. We walked from the K concourse to the H concourse. When we got to H16, I noticed that our plane had come from HPN. I look out the window for a good 10 minutes and I see a JAL 747 land. Boy was that cool! We boarded and I got 17F the time was 1 hour 45 minutes. Pushback was at 9:38. It was a noisy engine startup. We taxied on A13, A12, A7, J, and RW 9L. We took off at 9:48 am. We flew over Lake Michigan, Southern part of Michigan, Lake Erie, and Northern Pennsylvania and then on to Newark. It was noisy until we got over Pennsylvania. We started our descent at 11:58 EST. We had a bumpy descent w/ a lot of twisting and turning. Gear and flaps came down at 12:28. We landed on RW 4R at 12:30. We proceeded to Gate 35 where I felt like I was in my home state forever.
Now it was time to meet our party and wait for us to go on our trip to India. But first we needed to go to Amsterdam before we could go to Delhi! There were 13 of us traveling but 11 of us met at Newark.
August 9th 2002
EWR-AMS NW 64 DC-10-30 Seats We had the 15th Row and 16th I think. 4:45PM 0610 +1 Gate 42
Well, after waiting in Terminal B for 2 hours, we are going to board around 3:40 to go to Amsterdam. Registration is N238NW. We all boarded at 4:15. The pilot came on at 4:45 and said that we had to wait 10 minutes before we pushback because we can't land in AMS before 6:00 am. We pushed back at 5:10 pm. We were 7th for takeoff (typical Newark traffic around rush hour). During take off I counted 10+ planes waiting for takeoff and one of the overhead bins popped open. Our flight time was around 7 some odd hours. Our cruising altitude was FL270. I couldn't sleep on the plane. It was around 9:40 PM back in Chicago and they were serving breakfast. I don't remember what they were serving. We descended and circled and we landed at 6:02 and taxied to gate E7. My friend had to go to the bathroom as we were descending but his Mom had to carry him (he has mild CP) but he got refused so when we landed, he went so I decided to stay and help his Mom while everyone got off. It was a brisk morning. My other friend brought a journal and got every person's signature (even the domestic flights in India)
10, August 2002
AMS-DEL KL 871 1130-22:50 Seats 29th Row and 32. B747-300 F7
Well, after a nice morning, we proceeded to our gate. We were there and we noticed that there were a bunch of people. We looked on the monitor and we saw a KLM flight going to JNB. The people going to JNB gave us a stare. They boarded and this one girl realized that she must have forgotten something because she left he plane and KLM agents ran w/ her. She took an awfully long time and her name got announced over the PA system. After she got back on some odd minutes later, the plane was still there. It was there for at least 20 or so minutes. I went over to x ray machines and got a KLM staff and I asked why that plane didn't leave and they said that they were having technical problems. Soon we heard that the JNB flight was canceled. (How long is it from AMS-JNB? I watched KLM's Anthony H.G. Fokker pull into gate F8. I wanted to know where they came from so I asked. They said Suriname. Isn't Suriname in South America? It came from Paramaribo. We all realized that the JNB plane didn't leave and we kept waiting for a gate change and soon it happened. We changed gates to F8. We boarded by colour. I had orange. Some people in our party had different colours. Once they called a colour, everyone got up. Soon orange was called, and my mother forced me to stay by her. Don't you just love parents? (Some of you people know how much I get along w/ family members in my other trip reports!) I go into the gate and read the signs and board through I think the 2 or 3 door. I found my seat. (KLM should change those vomit coloured headrests) We took off some large number of minutes late. There was this child just 1 row ahead of us who literally screamed the whole 8 hours. Hence, I only slept 1 hour. They passed around food. The food was chicken w/ something. I got chicken. I didn't eat the chicken but I ate the rolls. Boy are those good. There was this girl who used her Airsickness bag many times in the flight. Later on somewhere in Asia, they served 80 ml tubs of strawberry ice cream. I savoured 3 of them. I know I'm a pig. I got to watch Spiderman even though I kept going up to Business class to see where we are. Our cruising altitude is FL 370. It looked like our ETA into Delhi is 11:21. Just 31 minutes late. They served this pizza in a wrapper. It tasted horrible. We landed around 11:20. Late indeed we are but Indians are never ontime. We got off the plane, and then I proceeded to the toilets. After that we waited like 10-30 minutes went through customs and met the last 2 people in our party. They came on BA#138 from LHR. After we got our bags, we met our driver and then we went to the Ashok Country Resort, which is not a resort and not in the country. We stayed there for 3 hours.
11, August 2002
DEL-BOM 9W 332 B737 650-850 Seats: Row 17 and others.
Well, there isn't much to write cuz I wasn't feeling good and so I slept on my mother's arm.
August 11, 2002
BOM-JDH 9W 3407 1010-1230 ATR 72-500 I forget my Seat number and others.
Since I felt crappy in Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport I slept basically the whole flight. Oh yeah. It was raining as we were taxiing. When we landed, it was bright and sunny. The terminal is beautiful on the outside. It says "Jodhpur in Hindi and in English w/ a nice lavender colour. It's a shame that you can't take pictures of it. Jodhpur Airport is also used as Military training.
15, August 2002
JDH-BOM 9W 3408 1250-1500 ATR 72-500 Reg. VT-JCE Seats 15th Row and others.
Jai Hind! Today is India's 55 Independence Day!
This is now my 2nd time going to Chhatrapati Shivaji. a.k.a. Mumbai! Well, I am back to myself again. When you walk in, there is a wooden doorframe w/ a metal detector box a few feet up from it. Stupid me walked through w/ my backpack on! The plane is an ATR 72-500. 2 people in our party had problems w/ the x-ray machine. Well since today was Independence Day, this was no other day to them. Jodhpur security found something in 2 people's bags and 1 person basically dumped her whole suitcase on the floor to find what it was. It was a miniature fan w/ batteries. **** all that commotion just because of batteries. The other person also had batteries too but in her torch (what they call as a flashlight in India). They confiscated the batteries. I had to have my bag re-scanned for some reason. My mother was "Leo bring your suitcase here so we can check in" and I was like "Mom they are re-scanning my bag just wait 1 **** minute." We check in and wait. My Mom bought Kit-Kats for like 5 people. I just wanted a Pepsi. Their straws are basically paper. They are so hard to suck. I had to go to the bathroom and my sister wanted my Pepsi so I gave her a few sips but she looked suspicious so when I was done, and after I got my Pepsi back, I dumped it in the sink. Then we went through security and I waited like 10 minutes to get my bag into the x-ray machine. Then I went through security and waited. My Mom said, "come here so this man can check your bag." I said "Mom. I'm not going anywhere until I get my water bottle." So I waited like 5 minutes for it to come out and then we had our umbrella's confiscated (they weren't even pointy). I went to this man and he searched my bag and my Mom declared her video equipment and also got something confiscated. So after we went through security, we walked onto the tarmac and boarded. I boarded through the rear of the aircraft (the only way to board) and sat in 15E. The flight attendant's names were Dimple and Rupa. I liked Rupa. They passed out drinks and then they passed out lunch. Our cruising altitude was FL 200. We landed at 2:54.
Time for people to know how to go through security in an Indian Airport
1. Place checked luggage in X-ray machine.
2. Claim checked luggage
3. Check in and stuff
4. Place hand baggage in X-ray machine
5. Walk through the metal detector
6. Step into the Male cubicle if you are a guy and go to the female if you are a girl.
7. Get frisked and have your ticket stamped
8. Pick up your hand baggage and get it searched
9. After Indian officials are satisfied, get your cabin baggage tag stamped and get your ticket stamped.
10. Wait for boarding call and have your bags checked again. After Indian officials are satisfied, get your cabin baggage tag stamped and get your ticket stamped again!
11. Pickup your bags and go outside.
12. Get frisked again and then once the officials are satisfied, board your bus.
Take note of these 12 steps if you are planning on going to India! They come in handy!
There you have 12 steps of how to do airport security in India
16, August 2002
BOM-TRV B737 Reg. VT-JAN Seats Row 15 and others. 1030-1240
Well, we left for Chhatrapati Shivaji around 9. This is my 3rd time in Chhatrapati Shivaji! We got there and waited for a few minutes while our checked bags went through security. We got them, (this time they hardly made a fuss) and then we checked in. Today we would fly to the Southern India. We went through security well before I went through the x-ray machine and got frisked, I got to ask 2 flight attendants where they were going and they both said Trivandrum, where I was headed. OK so after I proceed through security went and sit down in chairs and this time I was feeling fine. We waited a few minutes and then I heard our announcement. Jet Airways does theirs automatically in Mumbai. Kripaya tan dhijiye (may I have your attention please or something like that in Hindi) They punched in the flight number, how many times to repeat and then they hit ok. Soon you hear like that x instrument x-phone (can't spell) w/ the Hindi beginning w/ Kripaya tan dhijiye then in English Jet Airways announces the boarding of flight 9W to xxx boarding through gates xxx. They aren't actual gates. Jet Airways booths say they are gates. After I go through "gate" 7 I go and have my bags searched and my ticked stamped for the second time, I proceed outside. I see my Mom on the bus and I proceed to go to the bus. I was stopped. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to my right. I totally forgot to get frisked! I got frisked, and then I proceeded to walk up the stairs and go down the stairs away from the security officer. Well, I told him I was going on the Trivandrum bus. I was forced to go down the stairs where the security officer was and get on the bus. After I go down the correct stairs, the bus leaves but another bus comes. I get on and I am stuck in a middle seat. My sister has a grease stain on her skirt, so my Mom takes out a shout wipe and reaches all the way across me to clean my sister. Don't you just love middle seats? After that, we taxied for 8 minutes and then took off. My sister had a seat that goes all the way forward. I guess it must be broken. It wasn't in an emergency exit. After take-off I switched seats w/ someone and sit in an emergency exit. I sat in the aisle. Well, a male f/a named Dharmesh, asks me my age which is 15 and then he tells me I have to go back to my original seat because you have to be above 15 to sit in an emergency exit row. Well I at least enjoyed the legroom. After that little ordeal, lunch came. It was chicken. It didn't look appealing at all. We are experiencing turbulence. I kind of enjoy turbulence. We started our bumpy descent into Trivandrum. The Seattle sign came on at least 3 times. It was a medium-soft landing. We must of come in fast because we braked pretty hard after we landed. What a nice welcome. My seat the one I returned to, went all the way forward as soon as we braked. We landed at 1247. Just 7 minutes late.
20, August 2002
TRV-BOM B737 Row 15 (I think I've had Row 15 a lot) and others 1330-1545 Reg. VT-JAM
Well we got to the airport around 1145. This will be my 4th time in Chhatrapati Shivaji. We took pictures of Onam designs. (Onam is a South Indian festival which is ending this weekend). The designs were made by Indian Airlines. Jet Airways other competitor along w/ Air Sahara. I am happy that I wasn't flying Indian Airlines to Mumbai because their plane scheduled to leave at 1300, was delayed to 1345 because their plane wasn't there. After we went through security, we found a snack area upstairs. But the snack area was closed. Even though it was closed, I still got a good look of the airport. Our flight was called, and my mother told me to wait for her when a good 20 people were in front of her. Luckily my good friend Andrew, who works for Allegheny Airlines in PHL, let me be w/ him after I told my Mom I was w/ him. I just wish she'd let me do things for myself sometimes. Mothers. Just trying to be protective. We taxied on Runway 16 and turned around to a heading of 320. We took off on Runway 32 and our cruising altitude was FL350 as said by the pilot. They served Chicken Curry w/ Rice, fruit, yogurt and chocolate mousse. The chicken was spicy. You can't eat the fruit in India so I had to skip that. So I just ate the chicken. Mixed colour clouds during descent. Gear down at 1515 and we landed at 1519 16 minutes early.
20, August 2002
BOM-CCU B737-700 1630-1920 Seats: Row 24 and other seats. Reg. VT-JNS
It was a nice 1-hour connection. We said goodbye to the people we met in Delhi. They were going to PNQ (Pune). We waited a couple of minutes, went through security got frisked (this time I followed directions) and boarded the Kolkata bus. We taxied and we took off. We climbed to FL 390. Dinner was chicken tikka. We had a dark descent. I was able to see the strobe light reflect off the wing. Kolkata was pretty in the evening w/ its city lights. We landed at 1905. It was a medium landing. Guess what I saw in Kolkata? A Jetway! We got our bags from the carousel. How could I know it was the right carousel? I saw my friend Alex's wheelchair. We met our drivers and drove an hour to our crappy hotel. We soon changed to a better hotel.
24, August 2002
CCU-BOM B737-700 Seats 24-25. 1550-1820 Reg. VT JNP Parking Space 32.
Somehow last night we figured how to pack 20 bags and check them from Kolkata to Newark. This is my last Jet Airways flight. We did the usual check in and go through security. There were 2 flights before ours both which boarded late. You know Indians how they are never ontime. We boarded at 1540 20 minutes late. The flight time is 2 hours 5 minutes. We taxied on A,19L to 19R. There was a blue DC-10 Biman Bangladesh using the jetway. I thought their tail colours were green not blue. There was a lot of turbulence. We climbed to FL 390 and we traveled at 850 Km/h. We go through Nagpur at 1750 and Aurangabad at 1743. Our ETA in Mumbai is 1815. Time subject to change. They served us a snack containing chicken, some kind of potato thing, chutney, and some kind of halvah. We experienced a lot of turbulence. The seatbelt sign stayed on basically the whole flight. We had a cloudy descent. The speedbrakes were deployed for about 3 minutes. they weren't fully deployed but they were deployed. They passed out cookies. They were vanilla and chocolate. They didn't taste like vanilla and chocolate but they weren't that bad. The spoilers deployed again for 3 minutes. When we landed it was 26ºC, 79ºF. We had a nice vortex from the wing as we were in the final minutes of approaching Chhatrapati Shivaji. When we landed, It rained. After we landed, we got our 20 bags, which I pulled 12 of them off including the heaviest. I created a big pile, and fell on most of them! I didn't get a trolley too. After we got our 4 trolleys for our 20 bags we waited outside in the rain and humid air of Mumbai and take a crappy bus to the International Building.
25, August 2002
BOM-AMS NW 63 B747-400 Seats Row 65. 2 people had 35 ( right next to the screen) Reg. N671US 0105-0630
Our plane arrived late so they said that they would delay the boarding process to midnight 50 (0050). I love the way how they just can't say 1250. We actually boarded at midnight 30 (0030). It was raining. I watched an Alitalia 767 pushback for Milan and Swiss A340 to ZRH. I befriended a person from Hyderabad who was going to Princeton, NJ on business for 2 weeks. We were supposed to leave at 105 but we didn't leave until 0145. Our purser's name was Hal. I got a chance to talk to him before we left our nice comfy chairs for those uncomfortable plastic orange chairs. We boarded eventually and as we took off, I said goodbye to my homeland. I slept for 6 hours and when I woke up, I got a 7-up. We were cruising at FL 360. I must have started to catch a cold, because I was starting to not feel good (maybe this is where I picked up my meningitis). When I woke up, we crossed into Germany. The plane had some turbulence but it was fine. We landed at 7:05 just 35 minutes late. after we got off, in gate E9 I went to go look at the monitors, and my Mom and group disappeared. I thought where could they go? To find food? Maybe to the toilets? Well I panicked, started crying, trying to get myself together (after all I didn't want to make the US look bad by having a 15 year old cry). I pulled myself together and I found someone after I was told to go to the KLM service centre (how was I supposed to find my mum)? So I find a nice blond woman in those lovely blue uniforms. She said "Come with me" and so I followed her. We get to the KLM service centre in lounge 3 and she starts speaking in Dutch about my mom. She asks the name and I tell her the name and soon, my mom's name came over the PA system. She comes and I asked her " Where did you go?" in a sobbing voice. She said that they all went to the toilet. I told her that I was still standing at the monitors and you guys left. She appologized and we went to go eat.
25, August 2002
AMS-EWR DC10-30 1120-1335 Seats Row 18 and some of 19. Reg. N237US
The flight boarded from E7 just 1 walkway down from E9. We left late again because of some paperwork. We took off and one of the overhead bins pop open (yes the same thing happend on NW 64). We left 20 minutes late. We took off from the Kaagbaan RW 24. I got on the plane around 10 hours (as they say in The Netherlands) and I slept for 1.30 hours. Our cruising altitude is FL300. Our ETA was 1:50 PM just 20 minutes late. They served pasta which didn't look or taste good. My sister and her friend just ate like 5 of those dutch cheese cubes. I was forced to ask people if they wanted theirs. I had Pepsi and Swedish crispbread ( wrapped and shaped like a cracker). We had a lot of turbulence so that might explain why we climbed to FL 370. We descended and landed on RW 4R. It felt good to be back in the United States.We cleared customs, said our goodbyes and went on. Boy was that sad.
August 25, 2002.
AA 575 EWR-ORD 4:32PM-6:35 PM MD80 Seats 17D-F
This is my very last flight. We went with our friend Andrew who also was travelling back to PHL. He didn't want to sit in a car w/ his mom. He was sitting there by himself waiting for a flight to RIC. It was delayed until 4:10. After we talked for 20 minutes, we walked on over to my mom who met some friends who worked w/ my father a long time ago. All of a sudden Andrew came by. He gave us a hug goodbye. It was very obvious that he didn't want to say goodbye. We boarded and went to our seats. We pushed back and then we sat on the taxiway for 10 minutes because of the traffic flow into Chicago. We shut down our engines and waited and when 10 minutes was up, we restarted our engines and got in line for takeoff, RW 4L. We got to budge to the front of the line. We took off at 5:01 and climbed to FL 310. There were scattered clouds and it was 75ºF in Chicago. Time for some sleep. When I woke up, we were descending into Chicago. 5 minutes later we landed on 14R 30 minutes early. We got our 6 bags from baggage claim 7, called a taxi and went home.
Codes
ORD - Chicago O'Hare INTL Airport
EWR - Newark INTL Airport (soon to be named Liberty INTL Airport)
AMS - Amsterdam Schiphol
DEL - Delhi's Indira Gandhi INTL Airport
JDH - Jodhpur
BOM - Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji
TRV - Thiruvanathapuram (Trivandrum)
CCU - Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Airport
PNQ - Pune
RIC - Richmond, VA
PHL - Philadelphia INTL Airport
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Leo/ORD
August 9th, 2002
ORD-EWR AA#1306 Seats 17D-F Fokker 100 9:45-12:54 NI477L K6A
Hello All! Well, we left for ORD at 7:20 and we got there around 7:45. We are booked on American flight number 1306. It's a Fokker 100. We checked in and sent our 3 bags to EWR. We went through security and walked to K6A. We waited for our plane which was arriving from Montreal. When we got there were people going to IAH were still there. Their plane wasn't there. We waited for about 20 minutes and then I went to go look at the monitors and our gate changed to H16. We walked from the K concourse to the H concourse. When we got to H16, I noticed that our plane had come from HPN. I look out the window for a good 10 minutes and I see a JAL 747 land. Boy was that cool! We boarded and I got 17F the time was 1 hour 45 minutes. Pushback was at 9:38. It was a noisy engine startup. We taxied on A13, A12, A7, J, and RW 9L. We took off at 9:48 am. We flew over Lake Michigan, Southern part of Michigan, Lake Erie, and Northern Pennsylvania and then on to Newark. It was noisy until we got over Pennsylvania. We started our descent at 11:58 EST. We had a bumpy descent w/ a lot of twisting and turning. Gear and flaps came down at 12:28. We landed on RW 4R at 12:30. We proceeded to Gate 35 where I felt like I was in my home state forever.
Now it was time to meet our party and wait for us to go on our trip to India. But first we needed to go to Amsterdam before we could go to Delhi! There were 13 of us traveling but 11 of us met at Newark.
August 9th 2002
EWR-AMS NW 64 DC-10-30 Seats We had the 15th Row and 16th I think. 4:45PM 0610 +1 Gate 42
Well, after waiting in Terminal B for 2 hours, we are going to board around 3:40 to go to Amsterdam. Registration is N238NW. We all boarded at 4:15. The pilot came on at 4:45 and said that we had to wait 10 minutes before we pushback because we can't land in AMS before 6:00 am. We pushed back at 5:10 pm. We were 7th for takeoff (typical Newark traffic around rush hour). During take off I counted 10+ planes waiting for takeoff and one of the overhead bins popped open. Our flight time was around 7 some odd hours. Our cruising altitude was FL270. I couldn't sleep on the plane. It was around 9:40 PM back in Chicago and they were serving breakfast. I don't remember what they were serving. We descended and circled and we landed at 6:02 and taxied to gate E7. My friend had to go to the bathroom as we were descending but his Mom had to carry him (he has mild CP) but he got refused so when we landed, he went so I decided to stay and help his Mom while everyone got off. It was a brisk morning. My other friend brought a journal and got every person's signature (even the domestic flights in India)
10, August 2002
AMS-DEL KL 871 1130-22:50 Seats 29th Row and 32. B747-300 F7
Well, after a nice morning, we proceeded to our gate. We were there and we noticed that there were a bunch of people. We looked on the monitor and we saw a KLM flight going to JNB. The people going to JNB gave us a stare. They boarded and this one girl realized that she must have forgotten something because she left he plane and KLM agents ran w/ her. She took an awfully long time and her name got announced over the PA system. After she got back on some odd minutes later, the plane was still there. It was there for at least 20 or so minutes. I went over to x ray machines and got a KLM staff and I asked why that plane didn't leave and they said that they were having technical problems. Soon we heard that the JNB flight was canceled. (How long is it from AMS-JNB? I watched KLM's Anthony H.G. Fokker pull into gate F8. I wanted to know where they came from so I asked. They said Suriname. Isn't Suriname in South America? It came from Paramaribo. We all realized that the JNB plane didn't leave and we kept waiting for a gate change and soon it happened. We changed gates to F8. We boarded by colour. I had orange. Some people in our party had different colours. Once they called a colour, everyone got up. Soon orange was called, and my mother forced me to stay by her. Don't you just love parents? (Some of you people know how much I get along w/ family members in my other trip reports!) I go into the gate and read the signs and board through I think the 2 or 3 door. I found my seat. (KLM should change those vomit coloured headrests) We took off some large number of minutes late. There was this child just 1 row ahead of us who literally screamed the whole 8 hours. Hence, I only slept 1 hour. They passed around food. The food was chicken w/ something. I got chicken. I didn't eat the chicken but I ate the rolls. Boy are those good. There was this girl who used her Airsickness bag many times in the flight. Later on somewhere in Asia, they served 80 ml tubs of strawberry ice cream. I savoured 3 of them. I know I'm a pig. I got to watch Spiderman even though I kept going up to Business class to see where we are. Our cruising altitude is FL 370. It looked like our ETA into Delhi is 11:21. Just 31 minutes late. They served this pizza in a wrapper. It tasted horrible. We landed around 11:20. Late indeed we are but Indians are never ontime. We got off the plane, and then I proceeded to the toilets. After that we waited like 10-30 minutes went through customs and met the last 2 people in our party. They came on BA#138 from LHR. After we got our bags, we met our driver and then we went to the Ashok Country Resort, which is not a resort and not in the country. We stayed there for 3 hours.
11, August 2002
DEL-BOM 9W 332 B737 650-850 Seats: Row 17 and others.
Well, there isn't much to write cuz I wasn't feeling good and so I slept on my mother's arm.
August 11, 2002
BOM-JDH 9W 3407 1010-1230 ATR 72-500 I forget my Seat number and others.
Since I felt crappy in Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport I slept basically the whole flight. Oh yeah. It was raining as we were taxiing. When we landed, it was bright and sunny. The terminal is beautiful on the outside. It says "Jodhpur in Hindi and in English w/ a nice lavender colour. It's a shame that you can't take pictures of it. Jodhpur Airport is also used as Military training.
15, August 2002
JDH-BOM 9W 3408 1250-1500 ATR 72-500 Reg. VT-JCE Seats 15th Row and others.
Jai Hind! Today is India's 55 Independence Day!
This is now my 2nd time going to Chhatrapati Shivaji. a.k.a. Mumbai! Well, I am back to myself again. When you walk in, there is a wooden doorframe w/ a metal detector box a few feet up from it. Stupid me walked through w/ my backpack on! The plane is an ATR 72-500. 2 people in our party had problems w/ the x-ray machine. Well since today was Independence Day, this was no other day to them. Jodhpur security found something in 2 people's bags and 1 person basically dumped her whole suitcase on the floor to find what it was. It was a miniature fan w/ batteries. **** all that commotion just because of batteries. The other person also had batteries too but in her torch (what they call as a flashlight in India). They confiscated the batteries. I had to have my bag re-scanned for some reason. My mother was "Leo bring your suitcase here so we can check in" and I was like "Mom they are re-scanning my bag just wait 1 **** minute." We check in and wait. My Mom bought Kit-Kats for like 5 people. I just wanted a Pepsi. Their straws are basically paper. They are so hard to suck. I had to go to the bathroom and my sister wanted my Pepsi so I gave her a few sips but she looked suspicious so when I was done, and after I got my Pepsi back, I dumped it in the sink. Then we went through security and I waited like 10 minutes to get my bag into the x-ray machine. Then I went through security and waited. My Mom said, "come here so this man can check your bag." I said "Mom. I'm not going anywhere until I get my water bottle." So I waited like 5 minutes for it to come out and then we had our umbrella's confiscated (they weren't even pointy). I went to this man and he searched my bag and my Mom declared her video equipment and also got something confiscated. So after we went through security, we walked onto the tarmac and boarded. I boarded through the rear of the aircraft (the only way to board) and sat in 15E. The flight attendant's names were Dimple and Rupa. I liked Rupa. They passed out drinks and then they passed out lunch. Our cruising altitude was FL 200. We landed at 2:54.
Time for people to know how to go through security in an Indian Airport
1. Place checked luggage in X-ray machine.
2. Claim checked luggage
3. Check in and stuff
4. Place hand baggage in X-ray machine
5. Walk through the metal detector
6. Step into the Male cubicle if you are a guy and go to the female if you are a girl.
7. Get frisked and have your ticket stamped
8. Pick up your hand baggage and get it searched
9. After Indian officials are satisfied, get your cabin baggage tag stamped and get your ticket stamped.
10. Wait for boarding call and have your bags checked again. After Indian officials are satisfied, get your cabin baggage tag stamped and get your ticket stamped again!
11. Pickup your bags and go outside.
12. Get frisked again and then once the officials are satisfied, board your bus.
Take note of these 12 steps if you are planning on going to India! They come in handy!
There you have 12 steps of how to do airport security in India
16, August 2002
BOM-TRV B737 Reg. VT-JAN Seats Row 15 and others. 1030-1240
Well, we left for Chhatrapati Shivaji around 9. This is my 3rd time in Chhatrapati Shivaji! We got there and waited for a few minutes while our checked bags went through security. We got them, (this time they hardly made a fuss) and then we checked in. Today we would fly to the Southern India. We went through security well before I went through the x-ray machine and got frisked, I got to ask 2 flight attendants where they were going and they both said Trivandrum, where I was headed. OK so after I proceed through security went and sit down in chairs and this time I was feeling fine. We waited a few minutes and then I heard our announcement. Jet Airways does theirs automatically in Mumbai. Kripaya tan dhijiye (may I have your attention please or something like that in Hindi) They punched in the flight number, how many times to repeat and then they hit ok. Soon you hear like that x instrument x-phone (can't spell) w/ the Hindi beginning w/ Kripaya tan dhijiye then in English Jet Airways announces the boarding of flight 9W to xxx boarding through gates xxx. They aren't actual gates. Jet Airways booths say they are gates. After I go through "gate" 7 I go and have my bags searched and my ticked stamped for the second time, I proceed outside. I see my Mom on the bus and I proceed to go to the bus. I was stopped. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to my right. I totally forgot to get frisked! I got frisked, and then I proceeded to walk up the stairs and go down the stairs away from the security officer. Well, I told him I was going on the Trivandrum bus. I was forced to go down the stairs where the security officer was and get on the bus. After I go down the correct stairs, the bus leaves but another bus comes. I get on and I am stuck in a middle seat. My sister has a grease stain on her skirt, so my Mom takes out a shout wipe and reaches all the way across me to clean my sister. Don't you just love middle seats? After that, we taxied for 8 minutes and then took off. My sister had a seat that goes all the way forward. I guess it must be broken. It wasn't in an emergency exit. After take-off I switched seats w/ someone and sit in an emergency exit. I sat in the aisle. Well, a male f/a named Dharmesh, asks me my age which is 15 and then he tells me I have to go back to my original seat because you have to be above 15 to sit in an emergency exit row. Well I at least enjoyed the legroom. After that little ordeal, lunch came. It was chicken. It didn't look appealing at all. We are experiencing turbulence. I kind of enjoy turbulence. We started our bumpy descent into Trivandrum. The Seattle sign came on at least 3 times. It was a medium-soft landing. We must of come in fast because we braked pretty hard after we landed. What a nice welcome. My seat the one I returned to, went all the way forward as soon as we braked. We landed at 1247. Just 7 minutes late.
20, August 2002
TRV-BOM B737 Row 15 (I think I've had Row 15 a lot) and others 1330-1545 Reg. VT-JAM
Well we got to the airport around 1145. This will be my 4th time in Chhatrapati Shivaji. We took pictures of Onam designs. (Onam is a South Indian festival which is ending this weekend). The designs were made by Indian Airlines. Jet Airways other competitor along w/ Air Sahara. I am happy that I wasn't flying Indian Airlines to Mumbai because their plane scheduled to leave at 1300, was delayed to 1345 because their plane wasn't there. After we went through security, we found a snack area upstairs. But the snack area was closed. Even though it was closed, I still got a good look of the airport. Our flight was called, and my mother told me to wait for her when a good 20 people were in front of her. Luckily my good friend Andrew, who works for Allegheny Airlines in PHL, let me be w/ him after I told my Mom I was w/ him. I just wish she'd let me do things for myself sometimes. Mothers. Just trying to be protective. We taxied on Runway 16 and turned around to a heading of 320. We took off on Runway 32 and our cruising altitude was FL350 as said by the pilot. They served Chicken Curry w/ Rice, fruit, yogurt and chocolate mousse. The chicken was spicy. You can't eat the fruit in India so I had to skip that. So I just ate the chicken. Mixed colour clouds during descent. Gear down at 1515 and we landed at 1519 16 minutes early.
20, August 2002
BOM-CCU B737-700 1630-1920 Seats: Row 24 and other seats. Reg. VT-JNS
It was a nice 1-hour connection. We said goodbye to the people we met in Delhi. They were going to PNQ (Pune). We waited a couple of minutes, went through security got frisked (this time I followed directions) and boarded the Kolkata bus. We taxied and we took off. We climbed to FL 390. Dinner was chicken tikka. We had a dark descent. I was able to see the strobe light reflect off the wing. Kolkata was pretty in the evening w/ its city lights. We landed at 1905. It was a medium landing. Guess what I saw in Kolkata? A Jetway! We got our bags from the carousel. How could I know it was the right carousel? I saw my friend Alex's wheelchair. We met our drivers and drove an hour to our crappy hotel. We soon changed to a better hotel.
24, August 2002
CCU-BOM B737-700 Seats 24-25. 1550-1820 Reg. VT JNP Parking Space 32.
Somehow last night we figured how to pack 20 bags and check them from Kolkata to Newark. This is my last Jet Airways flight. We did the usual check in and go through security. There were 2 flights before ours both which boarded late. You know Indians how they are never ontime. We boarded at 1540 20 minutes late. The flight time is 2 hours 5 minutes. We taxied on A,19L to 19R. There was a blue DC-10 Biman Bangladesh using the jetway. I thought their tail colours were green not blue. There was a lot of turbulence. We climbed to FL 390 and we traveled at 850 Km/h. We go through Nagpur at 1750 and Aurangabad at 1743. Our ETA in Mumbai is 1815. Time subject to change. They served us a snack containing chicken, some kind of potato thing, chutney, and some kind of halvah. We experienced a lot of turbulence. The seatbelt sign stayed on basically the whole flight. We had a cloudy descent. The speedbrakes were deployed for about 3 minutes. they weren't fully deployed but they were deployed. They passed out cookies. They were vanilla and chocolate. They didn't taste like vanilla and chocolate but they weren't that bad. The spoilers deployed again for 3 minutes. When we landed it was 26ºC, 79ºF. We had a nice vortex from the wing as we were in the final minutes of approaching Chhatrapati Shivaji. When we landed, It rained. After we landed, we got our 20 bags, which I pulled 12 of them off including the heaviest. I created a big pile, and fell on most of them! I didn't get a trolley too. After we got our 4 trolleys for our 20 bags we waited outside in the rain and humid air of Mumbai and take a crappy bus to the International Building.
25, August 2002
BOM-AMS NW 63 B747-400 Seats Row 65. 2 people had 35 ( right next to the screen) Reg. N671US 0105-0630
Our plane arrived late so they said that they would delay the boarding process to midnight 50 (0050). I love the way how they just can't say 1250. We actually boarded at midnight 30 (0030). It was raining. I watched an Alitalia 767 pushback for Milan and Swiss A340 to ZRH. I befriended a person from Hyderabad who was going to Princeton, NJ on business for 2 weeks. We were supposed to leave at 105 but we didn't leave until 0145. Our purser's name was Hal. I got a chance to talk to him before we left our nice comfy chairs for those uncomfortable plastic orange chairs. We boarded eventually and as we took off, I said goodbye to my homeland. I slept for 6 hours and when I woke up, I got a 7-up. We were cruising at FL 360. I must have started to catch a cold, because I was starting to not feel good (maybe this is where I picked up my meningitis). When I woke up, we crossed into Germany. The plane had some turbulence but it was fine. We landed at 7:05 just 35 minutes late. after we got off, in gate E9 I went to go look at the monitors, and my Mom and group disappeared. I thought where could they go? To find food? Maybe to the toilets? Well I panicked, started crying, trying to get myself together (after all I didn't want to make the US look bad by having a 15 year old cry). I pulled myself together and I found someone after I was told to go to the KLM service centre (how was I supposed to find my mum)? So I find a nice blond woman in those lovely blue uniforms. She said "Come with me" and so I followed her. We get to the KLM service centre in lounge 3 and she starts speaking in Dutch about my mom. She asks the name and I tell her the name and soon, my mom's name came over the PA system. She comes and I asked her " Where did you go?" in a sobbing voice. She said that they all went to the toilet. I told her that I was still standing at the monitors and you guys left. She appologized and we went to go eat.
25, August 2002
AMS-EWR DC10-30 1120-1335 Seats Row 18 and some of 19. Reg. N237US
The flight boarded from E7 just 1 walkway down from E9. We left late again because of some paperwork. We took off and one of the overhead bins pop open (yes the same thing happend on NW 64). We left 20 minutes late. We took off from the Kaagbaan RW 24. I got on the plane around 10 hours (as they say in The Netherlands) and I slept for 1.30 hours. Our cruising altitude is FL300. Our ETA was 1:50 PM just 20 minutes late. They served pasta which didn't look or taste good. My sister and her friend just ate like 5 of those dutch cheese cubes. I was forced to ask people if they wanted theirs. I had Pepsi and Swedish crispbread ( wrapped and shaped like a cracker). We had a lot of turbulence so that might explain why we climbed to FL 370. We descended and landed on RW 4R. It felt good to be back in the United States.We cleared customs, said our goodbyes and went on. Boy was that sad.
August 25, 2002.
AA 575 EWR-ORD 4:32PM-6:35 PM MD80 Seats 17D-F
This is my very last flight. We went with our friend Andrew who also was travelling back to PHL. He didn't want to sit in a car w/ his mom. He was sitting there by himself waiting for a flight to RIC. It was delayed until 4:10. After we talked for 20 minutes, we walked on over to my mom who met some friends who worked w/ my father a long time ago. All of a sudden Andrew came by. He gave us a hug goodbye. It was very obvious that he didn't want to say goodbye. We boarded and went to our seats. We pushed back and then we sat on the taxiway for 10 minutes because of the traffic flow into Chicago. We shut down our engines and waited and when 10 minutes was up, we restarted our engines and got in line for takeoff, RW 4L. We got to budge to the front of the line. We took off at 5:01 and climbed to FL 310. There were scattered clouds and it was 75ºF in Chicago. Time for some sleep. When I woke up, we were descending into Chicago. 5 minutes later we landed on 14R 30 minutes early. We got our 6 bags from baggage claim 7, called a taxi and went home.
Codes
ORD - Chicago O'Hare INTL Airport
EWR - Newark INTL Airport (soon to be named Liberty INTL Airport)
AMS - Amsterdam Schiphol
DEL - Delhi's Indira Gandhi INTL Airport
JDH - Jodhpur
BOM - Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji
TRV - Thiruvanathapuram (Trivandrum)
CCU - Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Airport
PNQ - Pune
RIC - Richmond, VA
PHL - Philadelphia INTL Airport
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Leo/ORD