I was flying SkyBus yesterday 12/22/07 from Portsmouth, NH (PSM) to St. Augustine, FL (UST) on SkyBus flight 1105. Scheduled 6:14PM departure, 9:06PM arrival.

The flight departed PSM late at approximately 8PM. This was my 2nd SkyBus flight (the first one was from PSM to CMH a few months ago), and this time my sister was along for the trip to visit family. We paid extra to board in group 1 and were happy with the boarding process. Because of ice on the ground, the plane was parked at a gate (the only gate) in PSM and they said they are not allowed to have people walk on the tarmac when there are icy conditions; so boarding was only from the front of the plane.

They ran out of some food items but we ended up buying Boneless Buffalo Wings for $8, and two bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream for $5 each. Those two items didn't really go together but we were hungry because of the delay and had to eat something, and Bailey's is always tasty.

I really like the idea of buying food that I can choose to eat as opposed to just peanuts that most airlines give.

At approximately 10:30PM we start to make our descent into UST and the flight attendants collect all the service items. We start to descend but then we stop decending.

About a minute later the captain tells everyone over the intercom that due to low ceiling (fog) we are unable to land in St. Augustine and are being diverted to Orlando.

The initial plan is to land in Orlando and then refuel and fly back to UST when the weather clears. I think to myself that fog doesn't usually clear at night so the instant we land I am going to call my Dad and have him start driving to Orlando to pick us up.

One of the flight attendants announced that since they have never flown into Orlando they do not know exactly what the protocol will be and they do not know at the moment if we will be able to get off the plane. As soon as they get more information they will let us know.

Right around 11PM we land in Orlando (MCO). The instant we touch down I call my Dad to tell him to start driving to MCO. It seems like we rode all the way around the airport and finally come to a stop nowhere near any of the terminals. I look out the window and I can't see anything beyond 200 feet because of the fog. The captain announces that we won't be able to leave the plane and hopes after refueling the weather will clear in UST. He also mentioned that another flight from CMH to UST was diverted to Daytona Beach.

The airport people pull a staircase up to the front door of the plane and the captain/2nd officer get off the plane to try to expedite the refueling and probably talk to corporate.

Meanwhile I talk to my Dad again and I tell him that SkyBus will attempt to fly back to UST; but my Dad says it is still extremely foggy there so he will continue driving to MCO.

After about an hour the captain makes an announcement that the flight is now cancelled and we will deplane in MCO. They close the plane door and we taxi over to one of the United gates. For some reason it takes the United ground crew several tries to get the jet bridge aligned to the plane but finally succeed. Our baggage will be handled by United and can pick it up at carousel 25, and there will be buses to bring us back to St. Augustine.

My sister and I make our way into the terminal and I call my dad again to tell him the flight is officially cancelled and to pick us up at MCO at United.

After the train we make our way downstairs to baggage claim and all of our bags are already there. I didn't stay to listen to the details of the bus to UST, but most people were in good spirits considering the situation was out of their hands and SkyBus didn't keep us on the plane any longer than necessary. Some people were even happier because Orlando was their ultimate destination, unfortunately for us our final destination was Jacksonville.

It was 1AM by the time we had our luggage and was waiting at curbside to be picked up. At 1:30AM my dad shows up and we are on our way home.

I didn't see any signs of buses, but I didn't see other people from our flight either who were waiting to get bussed. It would be interesting to see what was done and how fast on such short notice at midnight.

Everything considered I was happy with my SkyBus experience. The crew kept us informed, and the flight attendants came thru the cabin a couple times and stopped at every other seat to talk to people to see if they had any questions and explained to everyone the latest informaton they had about the diversion.

After driving we finally made it at home at 4AM in the morning, and I slept until noon!