Two aborted takeoffs and six announcements later, life is back to normal

Turbulence on a TransPac flight is never a fun thing to deal with, esp coming off of an experience like you did on your last leg. Combine that with 2 aborted takeoffs and all I can say is that's a couple years worth of strange events in a day!

Never experienced an aborted take off, is it as scary as it sounds?

The first aborted takeoff wouldn't bother me much but after a second I would get concerned especially after watching an "Air Disasters" episode recently. Obviously different situations since that was in a rain storm and many decades ago (1950s).

Were they keeping the seat belt sign for hours? While I realize they want you in your seat but we all need to hit the bathroom at times and getting scolded like a little kid is something I can do without.

I've had an aborted landing during a snowstorm on a small RJ many years ago but nothing else and that one wasn't anything serious. We just got diverted to another airport (and made for a long day).

Enjoy your Easter day. Maybe you need a vacation from traveling 🙂

Cathay's safety record n crews professionalism r the reason I try to fly with them whenever possible.

Thanks for sharing

Weather in Seattle today: 69 degrees, low humidity, and not but a few clouds to speak of. Relax and enjoy your Easter my friend, you deserve it.

That looks like a sink for a giant!

Also, on somewhat of a different note, did you see the video of the Qantas and Emirates A380's flying close together over Sydney Harbor to signify the beginning of their business relationship. pretty cool!

Aborted landings are not fun either.

@Steve - Only two CX crashes, one due to a bomb and one shot down.

http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/airline_detail.cgi?airline=Cathay%20Pacific%20Airways

I guess this qualifies as content these days?

Glad to hear this flight was better than the last. Have you left SFO already? I'm heading down there in about an hour

Well they say stuff like this comes in three's so be aware :/

@ Mark - +1

A pilot I know says that CX hires a lot of ex-pat pilots from the British empire (UK/USA/Aus). I'm sure it's a bit easier to decide to move to HK than Amman, Jordan, so perhaps RJ is limited to homegrown pilots.

Did you have a chance to talk to the CX pilot about your experience on RJ? Did he have any insight?

@Justin - The USA hasn't been part of the British empire since for 236 years.

Lol Brian, 236 years is just a few chapters in British history 😉

Well, you know what they say: "In Europe, 200 miles is a long way. In America, 200 years is a long time."

I notice they placed two towels for you at the cabana tub. But the tub looks a little on the smallish side for two people. But it sounds like you guys were able to relax despite the size. Glad the CX flight was no repeat of the RJ one.

@Mark and @LR - Dumbest replies ever. Get a life. Read Lucky's the last post. He hasn't had the best of days.

Wow! Amazed with how infrequent aborted takeoffs are. I had three on my last AA mileage run last December. One from Miami to JFK, the pilot said there was an alert and they decided to check, they pulled off the runway and on next atempt everything went ok. It was a 767-200. Next, on another 767-200 flying from JFK to LAX and the Modus Operandi was the same you described @Lucky. Two aborted take offs and headed to the terminal because a light said that one of the cargo bays was open. 20-30 min at the Terminal, and way to go. I then thought that those things were much more usual.
Anyway @Lucky, don't make it too long before you fly again. Being a such experienced flyer, you know it is really difficult to live those kind of experiences and if you've lived one, it's almost impossible to live another one ever again, or pretty soon at least. You know how safe it is to fly nowadays. It is more usual to be killed crossing the street, so get on the air ASAP. 😉
Don't leave us without your adventures too long.
By the way, really looking forward to read your complete analysis on AA's new Business Class.
Keep up the great work!

I experienced a more severe aborted takeoff from SFO in a UA 747 many years ago. The wind was very strong and gusty, and coming from an unusual direction. We taxied for takeoff normally, then, when the pilot tried to leave the ground, the plane shuddered violently. The pilot quickly aborted, then tried a much more tightly controlled takeoff - same result. Five hours later, we got off successfully from a different runway. (It actually wasn't that scary - not even remotely as bad as Lucky's Royal Jordanian flight.)

Thanks for the story. Partially closed cargo doors are a serious threat to safety. One or was it two DC10s went down because of that. I believe, but I could be wrong, that indicator lights became standard in cockpits as a result.

I love flying Cathay but I'm troubled that the pilot didn't return to the ramp at the first sign of trouble.