The 787: Landing and post-flight
Shortly after the snack service, we began our descent into LAX. However, before I took my seat, I asked one of the FAs if I could visit the cockpit after our plane pulled into the gate at LAX (he was OK with it). It was a really textbook landing and my flight was fortunate enough to land on the South field on 25R rather than the North field, which requires a long taxi to the terminal.
Landing video.
After getting blocked in, the FA asked me to stay in my seat and relax while the rest of the passengers deplaned. With the forward First class section off, she and the purser invited me to the cockpit. A family was already there and similarly enthusiastic about the plane, the pilots and FAs all took part in the fun offering to take photos and sign boarding passes. Soon it was my turn, I introduced myself as an aerospace engineer and the pilots immediately started chatting me up on planes. The pilot even moved out of his seat so that I could try it out and grab a few photos. The copilot on the other hand offered to snap a few photos of me in the left seat. I profusely thanked both pilots for taking the time to let me visit the cockpit and headed out where the FA reminded me of her offer to take a few cabin photos, which I took up.
By this time, a large number of UA mechanics and other engineers boarded the plane with the cleaning crew. Knowing that this crew was due to fly back to IAH in a few hours on the redeye, and the lacking number of passengers onboard (read one…me) I thanked the crew again for their kindness and finally deplaned.
Summary and Conclusion
So my grand plan of magic and wonder didn’t turn out as well as I hoped. What was supposed to be two 787 flights ended up being one. I burned 20,000 miles to sit in the pointy end (as
eightblack calls it) for nearly 7 hours, but the Universe decided that was too much and threw in some fog down the Midwest. The last time I checked, the running score was:
Me 2. Universe 3.
I lost one 787 segment and was relegated to sit in a cramped ERJ-145 for two hours, but in the end I did get to fly on a Dreamliner…in a lie-flat seat. It was awesome! Not only did I get to try out an International premium hard product for the first time a long while, but I had a wonderful time sitting in a shiny new plane and got to share the enthusiasm with a great crew. While I would have enjoyed an extra 787 segment, this was great nonetheless. So the final score:
Me 1000000000000. Universe 3.
I win.