198? The Night The Planes Blew Away ........................................


You often hear the phrase, "If I'd not seen it with my own eyes ......."

Well, it was a dark and stormy night (another oft heard phrase). Late in the afternoon shift, maybe ten or eleven o'clock. We, the aircraft maintenance folk, were in the hangar when a call came from the 'ramp'. It said something to the effect of, "You'd better get down here, we have a problem."

It was dark of course and very high winds were blowing. Added to that we were in the middle of a freezing rain storm. The taxiway to the ramp and the ramp itself were a sheet of glare ice. Almost impossible to drive on; a wild night indeed.

When we'd finally made our slithery way to the ramp the sight was hard to believe. The wind had blown two 20+ ton DC-9s off their gates and slid them perhaps two hundred yards (or metres!) to the ramp's edge.

20 ton aircraft, with their brakes on; blown clear across the ramp - just wind and ice.

There was little we could do apart from chock their wheels and wait for the wind to die down.

Amazingly they'd hit nothing nor each other. The snow banks which had finally stopped their slide weren't high enough to have done any damge either.

Later, tow bars were attached, urea spread on the ice and the planes were towed back onto their gates; no worse for their adventure.

Mother nature must think us little humans rather funny at times.

(the picture - an Air Canada DC-9 at J.F.K. airport, New York. That's a big puck!)