ORD on 6/7: The Windy, Rainy, Lightning, Tornado City!
Jun 7, 2008, 9:16 pm
#1
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: BUR; LAX; SNA; EWR; AVP
Programs: UA 1K; CO Plat; SPG Plat (yay!); Hertz 5-Star
Posts: 231
ORD on 6/7: The Windy, Rainy, Lightning, Tornado City!
My day began at 6am from LAX flying out to ABQ to catch another flight to DEN. Those flights were perfect, however; the experience getting into and out of ORD this evening was not so pleasant. DEN announced that the inbound aircraft was coming from LaGuardia Airport and they too had experienced weather delays on the East Coast. I departed my DEN flight for ORD about 40 minutes after the scheduled departure time & arrived bumpily along the way, late, but safely at ORD with an hour to catch my next flight to XNA (it was supposed to depart at 5:30pm).
This is where the weather really picked up leading to an inbound stop, ground stop, lightning scare for the ground crew, and the threat of stronger winds ahead. My UAX jet was coming inbound from Fargo and spent a good while taking the long route around some fairly gnarly weather over the Chicago area. After about an extra hour or so just circling, the jet landed at ORD and pax deplaned. Then, finally, at around 7:00pm it was our turn to try to get out ot ORD before anything worse blew in from the west. We boarded and were all on the plane at 7:15pm when a ground crew staffmember notified us of a ground-stop due to lightning. So.....we sat in the CRJ-200 from 7:15 until 7:30 when it was safe for the ground staff to begin working. They rushed to shut the door and push us into the alley. Our Jet made it into the rear of a looooong line of all sorts of aircraft waiting to depart from the 2 runways tthat ORD was using at that time. We sat in that line until around 8:00pm we were holding into position on the runway. 5 minutes after that we were FINALLY in the air on our way to XNA. We landed at the gate at around 9:15pm.
It was really one of those "Chicago Weather Delay" days for me that I had been hearing and reading about, but hadn't had the misfortune of actually experiencing it for myself.
I hope any FT'ers that were stuck in this mess eventually got out somehow. I really enjoy flying but maybe I'll avoid Chi Town as much as my routes allow, at least during the early summer.
I am now at the Wingate Hotel as I type this, an Ambien bottle in one hand and a mug of coffee near the other. It is most definately time to go nitey-nite. I've earned it!
This is where the weather really picked up leading to an inbound stop, ground stop, lightning scare for the ground crew, and the threat of stronger winds ahead. My UAX jet was coming inbound from Fargo and spent a good while taking the long route around some fairly gnarly weather over the Chicago area. After about an extra hour or so just circling, the jet landed at ORD and pax deplaned. Then, finally, at around 7:00pm it was our turn to try to get out ot ORD before anything worse blew in from the west. We boarded and were all on the plane at 7:15pm when a ground crew staffmember notified us of a ground-stop due to lightning. So.....we sat in the CRJ-200 from 7:15 until 7:30 when it was safe for the ground staff to begin working. They rushed to shut the door and push us into the alley. Our Jet made it into the rear of a looooong line of all sorts of aircraft waiting to depart from the 2 runways tthat ORD was using at that time. We sat in that line until around 8:00pm we were holding into position on the runway. 5 minutes after that we were FINALLY in the air on our way to XNA. We landed at the gate at around 9:15pm.
It was really one of those "Chicago Weather Delay" days for me that I had been hearing and reading about, but hadn't had the misfortune of actually experiencing it for myself.
I hope any FT'ers that were stuck in this mess eventually got out somehow. I really enjoy flying but maybe I'll avoid Chi Town as much as my routes allow, at least during the early summer.
I am now at the Wingate Hotel as I type this, an Ambien bottle in one hand and a mug of coffee near the other. It is most definately time to go nitey-nite. I've earned it!
Jun 7, 2008, 9:54 pm
#2
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Programs: United GS+
Posts: 1,889
I landed today at ORD at ~7:30pm with zero issues. We were about ten minutes late due to a late take off.
EDIT: I also flew out of ORD yesterdy at 4:55pm. Zero problems.
EDIT: I also flew out of ORD yesterdy at 4:55pm. Zero problems.
Last edited by jgsx; Jun 7, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Jun 7, 2008, 10:08 pm
#3
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Redwood City, CA USA (SFO/SJC)
Programs: 1K 2010, 1P in 2011, Plat for 2012,13,14,15 & 2016. Gold in 17 & 18, Plat since
Posts: 8,826
1K and first-time ORD weather experience?
You must live a charmed life. ORD has gotten the best of me several times in the past few years, and with SFO as my home airport, ORD will get the best of me many times in the years ahead as well. I escaped yesterday, but thinking about it, the likely reason I got out (when so many didn't) was because I'd planned ahead and carried an extra day's clothing this time.
Jun 8, 2008, 4:30 am
#7
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: BUR; LAX; SNA; EWR; AVP
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Posts: 231
I didn't think it possible that a domestic 1K could be a newbie to Chicago's wonderful weather.
You must live a charmed life. ORD has gotten the best of me several times in the past few years, and with SFO as my home airport, ORD will get the best of me many times in the years ahead as well. I escaped yesterday, but thinking about it, the likely reason I got out (when so many didn't) was because I'd planned ahead and carried an extra day's clothing this time.
You must live a charmed life. ORD has gotten the best of me several times in the past few years, and with SFO as my home airport, ORD will get the best of me many times in the years ahead as well. I escaped yesterday, but thinking about it, the likely reason I got out (when so many didn't) was because I'd planned ahead and carried an extra day's clothing this time.