AIRLINE SAFETY

I read a column on the USA Today written by a retired airline pilot on the subject of airline safety and I woudl like to add a few comments from my own limited experience flying the friendly skies.

I have only flown twice, once to Freeport in the Bahamas on my honeymoon and then 36 years later when my youngest son gifted me with a  trip to visit him in Hawaii.I wasn't worried for the first trip, and unlike some friends of mine who asked me if I was worried about flying so far and out over the Pacific for a good deal of the trip, I was not in the least worried about any safety issues at all.  It is in everyone's best interest for the flight to be uneventful.  The crew can fly the plane and I cannot so I tend to trust in the experience of the crew.  Sure problems can happen, but they train for that.

Taking off from Philly was a little disconcerting because it was before dawn and into a cloud bank, but I figured the crews and air traffic controllers do this all the time. Flying over the Pacific was uneventful due I am sure to the great skill of the pilots.  When we hit bumpy air you could tell by the sounds of the engines the pilot was climbing to get over the bumpy air.  Only once did it so bumpy that he told the cabin crew to go to their seats and buckle in.  Again I didnt' feel danger in any way because I am sure the crew has encountered bumpy air many tiems and knew what to do.

It is a bit concerning coming into Honolulu because they come in at so steep an angle, but again I figured they had done this before.

For all of you male chauvinists out there, the pilots on the return leg from Houston to Philadelphia were two very capable female pilots.  They obviously had similar skills and experience to the male pilots on the other legs of the out and back flight.

For what it is worth, the roads into and out of the Philadelphia Airport are designed to get you in and out quickly.  Everything is well marked and getting there from where I live in Northeast Pa., aside from the obviously longer trip involved, is no harder than getting to the airport at Avoca, which is only about 40 minutes from my home.