Chapter 194
11/19/2008
World Tour
Mohawk aka "Slowhawk"
Where in the world are the Olmsteds? The video answers. Traveling in retirement? No, we'll leave that to others as we did ours earlier.
Had the good luck to meet Kathy while she was out on strike with Mohawk Airlines in 1971. She went back to work after a few months and two months before we got married in '72 she was on duty at the Albany Airport the night this Fairchild Hiller 227 Flight 405 went down 4 miles south of the airport. I'd played some basketball and was at Luigi's bar relaxing about a mile from the crash site when the news came on. Went down to the airport to give Kathy support as I knew she'd be shook up. She was busy moving passenger family members to a special waiting room where they would be updated on the news of their loved ones.
Seveenteen people died at the scene 50 Edgewood Ave just east of SUNY Albany in a densly populated neighborhood within the city limits. New house in white. Fatalities were primarily on board passengers and crew with one from the single house that was demolished. The pilots had no choice for a landing when the plane rapidly corkscrewed downward although there was some concern that they could have coped better with the stuck engine pitch lock malfunctionwith. The 50th anniversary covered by this newscast just recently.
Kathy was not too late getting to our rental apartment off her 11pm shift that night. The event certainly made a mark on our minds.
We moved into a house 4 miles north of the airport near the flight path so the thought of a plane going down has been something in the back of our minds.
As I was droning this shot (retrospectively) right in the flight path, an airliner approached. We are allowed 150 ft restricted ceiling here. I went down to tree top level anyways and the software function gave automatic collision avoidance system warning verbal broadcast warnings.
Combining the air tragedy with the joy of air travel might seem inappropriate but it was always in the back of my mind. I worked with Liz Bishop, Channel 6 reporter in the past and she was on scene and gave this report.
There were about 40 survivors from the Mohawk crash, amazingly. This is a poignant TED talk by a survivor of US Air 405 from La Guardia (same takeoff as our Mohawk) years later.
The airline became Allegheny then USAir and Kathy moved over to Braniff International. We had many wonderful trips for cheap. My Google Earth download was so impressive (and free, 2 thumbs up) I just had to do a composite video to illustrate: the World Tour video link above.
This is a brief summary but it was hard to go around the world in less than 7 minutes. Started with my favorite: Switzerland. Skiing the Schilthorn was kind of a pinnacle for me. At 10,000 ft it was a high point and majestic. Which is where the 1969 James Bond "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" Piz Gloria rotating restaurant scene was filmed. If you Google videos for any of this you'll be amazed.
I'll never stop being amazed looking at those big beautiful jets, and knowing that they actually can fly flawlessly (almost).
There is so much more behind the photos, but a couple notes: We had rented a car to drive around Germany. When we got to Regensburg late in the evening we were asking strangers where to stay. One guy's English was poor to give directions but said he could show us. I let him drive our car to the gasthaus where he helped get us a room. You know, the poor 90 year old flower lady pictured at the marketplace asked Kathy in broken English, "First time in Germany", and gave her the red rose.
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Video Notes:
Switzerland
Italy
Germany
England
Jamaica
Hawaii