Landing check

Reminds me of my two small plane experiences. One was in Alaska as well, on a float plane. We no sooner got aloft when the pilot said "did you hear that?" We had not. Pilot says, "Something's not right. I'm going down to check it out." Not being used to float planes, it was a little unnerving to see yourself coming in for a landing on water in what you now have been told is possibly a crippled plane. We landed, he jumped down on the float. In a matter of seconds, he climbed back in, said "they forgot to lock one of the hatches closed and it was flapping." And off we went.

The other was in New Zealand. Small plane tour out of Christchurch to Milford Sound. The other two passengers were an airline pilot and his wife, who was a former stewardess. Both were in a high anxiety level. I said "you should be used to flying" and he said "only when I am at the controls". It didn't help as we approached Milford that our pilot said, "Marine layer is in and visibility is poor. I'm going to try and find a hole, and go down under it". Suddenly we dive through the murkiness, come out headed straight for this mountain looming up right in front of us. He makes a U-turn, brings us down, and we bounce a couple of times before coming to a stop. Our pilot swears, apologizes for the rough landing, says it is the worst he has made since flying school (which couldn't have been too long before,as he looked like a teenager). The airline pilot and wife get out clutching their barf bags.