AA 254 TGU-MIA (Tegucigalpa/Toncontin->Miami)
DEP TGU 14:00 17 DEC 2010
ARR SAP 14:51 17 DEC 2010
---unscheduled refuel break in San Pedro Sula, Honduras---
DEP SAP 15:45 17 DEC 2010
ARR MIA 19:10 17 DEC 2010
Flight Duration: 4:10 (2 hours late)
Aircraft: B757-200 Winglets
Hello readers! This trip report is the last of the trilogy of my volunteer trip report to Honduras with the Global Brigades.
On December 18th 2010, Saturday morning we headed for a hour-long van ride back from our camp site to Tegucigalpa/Toncontin Airport. Our flight was AA 254, scheduled to leave from TGU at 14:00, arriving at MIA at around 17:00 before catching the connecting flight from MIA back to ORD at 18:00. Unfortunately, the wind conditions at Tegucigalpa changed so that our flight had to take off with less weight, meaning less fuel. The strong north-bound winds prevented aircraft from taking off with certain weight that day, causing the landings to come in from the north rather than the usual south. Our flight had to stop over at SAP (San Pedro Sula Airport) for about 40 minutes before heading to Miami, causing us to be delayed two hours and causing us to miss the connecting flight to Chicago. We managed to get on one of the last flights to Chicago that day, which was scheduled to depart at 19:30.
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안녕하세요 독자 여러분들! 이번 탑승기는 저하고 저의 봉사활동팀의 온두라스에서 시카고로 돌아가는 여정의 내용이 들어간 탑승기입니다.
12월 18일 2010년 아침, 글로벌 브리게이즈 캠핑장에서 테구시갈파 공항을 향해 출발하였습니다. 오늘의 여정은 AA 254편을 타고 오후 두시에 테구시갈파공항을 출발, 오후 다섯시쯤 마이애미공항에 도착후 마이애미공항에서 한시간 레이오버후 오후 여섯시쯤 시카고행 비행기를 타는 여정이였습니다. 불행하게도 오늘은 북서풍이 심해서 비행기가 연료를 가득 넣고 이륙할수 없게 되었습니다. 그래서 착륙도 원래 남쪽이 아닌 북쪽에서 어프로칭 하며 착륙하는 날이 되었습니다. 그리하여 우리 비행기는 정시 오후 2시에 테구시갈파 공항에서 이륙후 온두라스 북쪽 해변 가까이 있는 도시, 산페드로술라에 40분쯤 스탑오버 하면서 연료를 채운후 다시 출발하여 마이애미에 저녁 7시쯤 도착하였습니다. 예정보다 2시간 늦게 도착하여서 우리가 타야했던 시카고행 비행기는 놓쳤지만 그날 마지막 시카고행을 그나마 잡을 수 있었습니다.
The scenes of Tegucigalpa city while going to airport.
Making this exit from Anillo Periferico 2 would lead us to Tegucigalpa Airport.
The American Airlines check-in counter. Before you check-in, you need to show that you've paid the Honduras country exit fee, which was about 40USD.
This is the second floor of the airport before the security checkpoint and customs. The food court had McDonald's and other restaurants.
McDonald's in Honduras looks like this. Not much different from USA.
Here is our plane from Miami, landing from the north today.
Today's flight was B757-200 Winglets, just like last time.
The aircraft parked at the same gate that we got off one week ago, next to Copa Airlines which pulled in not too much earlier.
The waiting area for all of the gates in Tegucigalpa Airport.
From my seat 30K. This was when our captain made an announcement of unscheduled stop at San Pedro Sula to refuel.
We took off to the north, quickly gaining altitude to avoid the mountains ahead.
This is the same stadium I saw from the Parque Picacho.
You can see the Cristo Picacho Statue from here also.
After 40 minutes of flight, past all of the mountains, the plane started to descend into San Pedro Sula.
You can see the San Pedro Sula Airport on the top. The plane circled around to lose altitude before landing.
That's the San Pedro Sula Airport Terminal.
After refueling, the plane took off at local time of around 4PM.
The Honduras coast.
Flight attendants served beverages and snacks throughout the flight.
We arrived into Miami around 7PM local time.
My friends calling American Airlines to try to catch the last flight out of Miami.
After a long run from our gate to immigration customs, through baggage claim, back through another security checkpoint, and finally to our gate, we were able to catch our flight to Chicago, which was thankfully waiting for us to arrive. The flight departed about 10 minutes behind schedule. The aircraft was B767-300. The flight changed from B757-200 to B767-300 last minute, which led to empty seats throughout the flight. We wiped off our sweat, took our seat, and relaxed on our flight back to Chicago. I passed out after taking this picture of Miami night view before waking up on our approach into Chicago/O'Hare.
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게이트에서 입국심사까지, 그리고 짐찾고 다시 부치고 보안검사대를 지나서 시카고행 비행기를 잡는대까지 한 2마일은 달린것 같습니다. 우리가 간신히 잡았던 시카고행 비행기는 고맙게도 우리를 위해 기다리고 있었습니다. 비행기는 예정시간보다 10분 늦추어져서 출발하였습니다. 기종은 원래 B757-200였는데 마지막 순간에 B767-300으로 바꾸어져서 비행기 안에는 빈 자리가 많았습니다. 저희들은 비행기에 도착해서 발 뻗고 안심하면서 시카고로 출발할수 있게 되었습니다. 저는 위에 있는 마이애미 야경 사진 한장 찍고 바로 취침하였습니다. 시카고/오헤어 공항에 어프로치 하는 도중에 깨었습니다.
Chicago at around local time 21:00.
The flight attendants said it will be 0ºF (-17.778ºC) outside.
Since we were all bound for our college campus. We figured that it was better to take a limousine together than take several taxis back. The cost came to about 20 USD each.
No booze inside to drink, of course.
Thank you for reading my trip reports!
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