Contractor I worked with was out flying that day.

He says he saw something fly up and hit the plane then boom.

don't do it Joe. I've seen what grown ups have to do...it ain't fun:D

http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/gros...ude_cap014.gif

LEL = Lower explosive limit

Diesel/Kerosene = 0.6% by volume

Vapor pressure of Kerosene

40F = 0.0041 psi
60F = 0.0085 psi
80F = 0.015 psi
100F = 0.029 psi

So, the concentration of fuel vapor in a tank will be

40F = 0.028%
60F = 0.058%
80F = 0.102%
100F = 0.197%

Anyone see problem here?

Yep, Jimbo & I have been over it...and I agree with you on the illusion of controlling one's fate while driving. Yesterday, driving up to Salem, I-5. A construction zone...cement barricades froming the feeeway, no "shoulders".
I cam across a freakin' sawhorse on the road, in my (left) lane...a quick zig-zag to avoid, thanks to the luck of having a traffic hole on my right...I may not be so lucky next time. Hell, people following me may not have been so lucky.

Bottom line: Be it road, air, rail, or boat...***** happens...

Scott nailed it, that was the flight and it was a 737-800.

The crew did a great job landing the plane with the shiny side up, but after we got on the ground I was not happy about the fact that they wouldn't tell us anything, they would not open the doors, they would not let us off. They put an advertisement info-mercial about AA on the video screen and handed out the $2 earphones for free (while we were being held hostage).

When they finally did let us off the plane they asked us to stand in a line at the gate even though the line did not move, they had no other flight to put us on, they had no answers, it was as if the system had not been set up to handle this type of situation.
All they had to do was tell us some details, anything would have been better than being treated like a mushroom. It appeared as if they didn't have any information to give us and they were in the dark as much as we were.

I got a flight out of LAX to chicago about 4 hours later but they had to fly up over Minneapolis and then down to Chicago to avoid a large storm front.
That made us almost an hour late to chicago. I literally ran from one terminal to the other, and when I got to the connector gate they had already closed the doors.
the guy at the counter made a phone call and convinced them to open the door on the mini-jet so I cound get on, that was cool.
But because we were later getting there they didn't have time to get my luggage transfered.
When I got to knoxville I talked to the guy at the counter and told him I was staying at the holiday inn select, but I didn't have an address (it was in the luggage).
He gave me a phone number to call the next morning to give them the address.
Guess what? It was an automated phone system, no real people. I spent 20 minutes trying to talk to a real person but couldn't get anyone.
About that time my cell phone rang, it was a lady from AA. they were trying to find out where I was staying so they could deliver the luggage.
She told me she called my travel agent and found the address, the bag was delivered at noon.

Here's the crux of the problem:
Everyone I dealt with from AA was polite, courteous, professional and tried to do their jobs well. Unfortunately the system they worked in did not allow them to do so. Their hands were tied so to speak.
They need to fire all the big bosses and let the employees run the airline, I bet they'd do a better job.

Thanks for the info Sammy. When you mentioned the plane was "oscillating"... was that shaking up and down from front to back...or was it side to side... how disturbing was that in the cabin and were people freaking out etc? Im just curious how that experience in the plane went. thx

[QUOTE=450knotOffice;3530108] However, statistically speaking, you are many, many more times safer while flying than while traveling in a car, bus or truck.)/QUOTE]

True, but nevertheless, when I fly, I try to put out of mind that when there is an aviation accident, so few are "fender benders". :)

Since we had a mild santa ana wind condition there was some turbulence but nothing too bad.
Then the plane started going up and down. I figured it was something to do with the air but it was steady and periodic and increasing. That meant to me that it was nothing to do with the air but had to be something to do with the plane.
A few people gasped, no one screamed, in fact it was very quiet. Some wispering, some praying, everyone was just waiting.
When they said we were going to LAX instead of back to OC I knew what was up.
A year or two ago a plane was supposed to land at Long beach but it's nose gear didn't go all the way down. They diverted it to LAX because they have better emergency response capability there, or at least can clean up the mess faster. ;)

Longer runways and the fact that AA has a fully equipped maintenance base at LAX probably had more to do with the decision to land there rather than LGB.

Glad it turned out fine, Sam.