I Can Fly

AirAsia 8501 – My Experience Flying into that Fateful Airport January 21, 2015

Being in aviation is tough sometimes. Like when I read the article by Bloomberg Business Week about how it is unclear how many hours a pilot who flies Airbus jets has at or above 34,000 feet (FYI, Bloomberg: most of his 6,000 hours are above 34,000 feet – the only hours not at 34,000 feet are the cumulative hours it takes him to climb to 34,000 and descend from 34,000 feet. Otherwise, he will fly at or above 34,000 feet 90% of the time).

So I thought I’d share my experience with my most recent ferry trip to Indonesia. I – along with three other pilots – flew about 70 hours each in small prop planes from California to Surabaya – the same airport where AirAsia QZ8501 departed on its fateful day. I must admit I was a little nervous flying into the airport where AirAsia 8501 had just gone missing – it didn’t help that I had also watched Unbroken 4 days before I launched either (Note to self: don’t watch movies with ocean plane wrecks before ferrying an airplane over 50 hours of water). But as Zamperini says, “If I can take it, I can make it.”

Surabaya airport (SUB) is located about midway through the archipelago of islands that make up Indonesia. Flying over Indonesia is one of the most breathtaking island flights one could ever do. Beautiful crystal clear blue waters, trees and beaches for days, and small little pockets of villages that make it look like maybe only a handful of people live in this remote part of the world.

Out of the four airplanes being delivered to Surabaya, I was number three in line. About an hour before our estimated time of arrival, we were informed by Bali approach control that Surabaya would be closed for four hours. We needed to divert to another airport or fly in a circle for four hours (definitely not my cup of tea since I had already been in the airplane for seven hours.) Apparently, they were filling a hole in the runway. Fair enough. Our airplanes could easily land in 1/4 the length of the runway, but safety measures were in place, and try as we might, there was no budging the officials to allow us to land at SUB.

Therefore, we landed at an airport 20 miles away and waited for Surabaya to open. When it did, we flew in together landed and were welcomed by fantastic welcoming party. I could see AirAsia flights taking off and landing along with multiple other airlines. It just seemed like business as usual at any other international airport.

I commend Indonesia and the town of Surabaya. They went through such a devastation, yet they handled it and carried on. When I left Indonesia to fly back to the states, security was efficient and pleasant. I was greeted warmly by everyone from the ticket counter to the gate agent. Hopefully next time I come to Indonesia, I’ll be able to stay for longer than a day and do some sightseeing.