What the heck is going on with Continental airlines?
Granted, I haven’t done a lot of flying in my life when compared with many other folks. I have flown more in the past 10 years than in the previous 20 and as a whole I have made more flights on Continental than with any other airline. The reason for that is geographical. The two cities from which I have made the most flights were relatively small and had either one or two airlines from which to choose. One of those were Continental “connections” as the company advertises.
I have found Continental service more good than not good. They certainly have had a decent safety record. I have lost baggage with Continental twice. The first time my bags showed up the next day. The last time, the bags went bye-bye and it took months to get reimbursed for what I had to replace.
In the last few weeks, Continental has shown up in the news more than often. Today, of course, one of their pilots died in mid-flight on an international flight from Brussels to Newark. Apparently, the passengers were none the wiser.
This comes just days after two different unaccompanied girls, one 8 years old and the other 10, were mistakenly flown by Continental to wrong destinations. Ooops!
The pilot’s demise is one of those things, the mistaken flights not so much. But one incident involving a Continental “connection” also apparently no fault of the company’s but probably more alarming than all the aforementioned incidents has received little notice except in my area of Texas.
Pilots on a Continental Express jet which just left George Bush International Airport in Houston for Greenville, S.C. reported seeing what appeared to be a rocket flying toward them around 8 p.m. on May 29. The pilot of the plane, carrying 23 passengers, reported the rocket had triangular fins. Authorities believe the rocket was of civilian type and of the kind used by hobbyists. It was thought the rocket was launched somewhere in Chambers County, which is one of the counties on the western border of the county in which I reside (Jefferson County). The near encounter was believed to have occurred between 2-to-4 miles north of Interstate 10.
A similar incident also took place on Memorial Day weekend in 2008 in the same area. Involved was another Continental jet. This one a 737 carrying 148 passengers which had just left Houston for Cleveland.
Suddenly, the skies don’t seem quite so friendly. Oh, right. That was United.