JFK Log: The A380 Arrival

Introduction

On 19 March 2007, I stood on a ten foot mound surrounding an elementary school soccer field with my camera Mito. It was approximately -2 degree Celsius, and the fields were covered in clean white snow. I had traveled over a thousand miles to visit someone who is both a stranger and an old friend. That morning, I was privy to a piece of history in commercial aviation. And wow, what a beautiful day it was...

The Lady At Delta

There were so many reasons why this trip should have failed.

On Friday when my flight to JFK was supposed to take place, the northeast was experiencing terrible weather. New York City was hailing. My flight was canceled.

When I arrived at the ticket counter, the agent was nice but told me that there was a backlog and the earliest flight she could book was 4 pm on Monday. Her manager stood over her, affirming her statement. Somehow in desperation, I blurted out the reason why leaving on Monday at 4 pm would mean that I will miss out on greeting the plane before she touched down for the first time in the United States. Her manager said, there was nothing they can do.

I nearly cried.

When the manager left, the ticketing agent whispered to me that she could sneak me into a flight to La Guardia. I would leave on Sunday and transfer at ATL, and arrive at LGA around 9 PM.

At that point, I think I had tears in my eyes. I thanked her profusely.

On Sunday, I drove once again to MCO and after waiting in the Comair terminal for an hour, I pulled out my boarding passes and realized that there was something strange about my new itinerary:

My First FIRST CLASS Trip

In the first class cabin, I was addressed by my last name, given good food on real plates, a leather seat with a view from two windows, and all the alcoholic beverages I could drink. I got a mojito. :)

The Journey

A bus route map of southeastern New York City, courtesy of MTA.

1345h Zulu - Departure. My brother Wil lives in Astoria, so without a car I had to plan contingency routes via the Metro and the bus depending on the arrival runway. The ride from Astoria to the transfer station via the metro took about 40 minutes including the wait during rush hour.

1425h Zulu - Arrived at transfer station. Walked to bus station to take the Q60.

1500h Zulu - Initially the 31L was designated for arrivals, but suddenly JFK ATIS reported a runway change to 22L. The change occurred while I was en route to a spotting site near 31L via the bus. As soon as I realized the change, I quickly left the Q60 bus around Rockaway and Farmers Blvd, walked several blocks to 147th Avenue, caught another bus (Q113) and got off at 147th Avenue and 230th St, lower right corner of the map.

1525h Zulu - From there I walked several more blocks until I arrived at a snow covered soccer field, surrounded by ten foot mounds and low flying planes on final approach to JFK.

The Arrival - 1611h Zulu

Aircraft: Airbus A380
Tail No.: F-WWJB, MSN 007
Date: 19 March 2007
Time: 1611h Zulu
Arrival Runway: 22L

Hello, there. Pleased to meet you, finally. :)

Epilogue

To the lady from Delta Airlines who helped me fulfill my dream,

Without you, taking these photos could not be possible. I would have been just as grateful if you had found a spot in the pressurized cargo area for me to be a stowaway. I had been waiting to see the A380 for a long time...it is a very special plane to me. Because of this plane, I made the decision to go into aerospace engineering. I hope that in the future I can design the next A380 or the 787.

I don't think anything I say can convey to you the gratitude I felt and continue to feel for your gesture. Nor do I think I can convey through these photos the awe I felt, standing at a soccer field in southeastern Queens, in between the glide paths for runways 22L and 22R near JFK, watching 590 tonnes of composites carrying 500+ passengers on final approach, gliding silently at 200 MPH and literally a few hundred feet in front of me.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make my dream come true.