The Stress of the Disappearing Green Blinking Light - September 13,2011

How long is a day?  Well, scientifically only 24 hours.  Biblically, it’s up for debate.  I was having one of those days measured biblically, not scientifically.

We had gone to bed the night of Sunday, September 11th  at 2:00 am  Monday, September 12th.  We arose for the trip to the airport at 4:00am Monday, September 12th.  It was now 4:00pm Monday, September 12th and Jen had boarded in Dulles to head to Vienna.  Her scheduled flight take off was 5:35pm EDT (4:35 for us).  Her layover in Vienna was only a little over an hour, not much time to get through customs and on board her flight to Skopje.  An according to Austrian Air’s time table, it was twelve hours between that flight to Skopje and the next one.  Missing her scheduled flight from Vienna to Skopje would make for a biblically long day!  Her 25 hours of travel would be extended to 37 hours!  That is a long haul.  So, an on time departure from Dulles would be a really awesome gift for her!

Oh my word - compared to today, I may have been more patient the day I gave birth to her!  The pacing began about 4:30 (CDT).  Then the brilliant idea, log into United Airlines and check on her flight’s status.  Using her flight number, I was given the info that the flight was “on time”.  It had not departed, but it was declared to be on time!  Hallelujah!

Somehow I managed to wait ten minutes before checking again.  At 4:40pm, five minutes after her scheduled takeoff the status report said “on time - has not departed”.  I just hate it when two statments, observations, or expected truths are paired together and they cannot BOTH be true at the same time.  IF her flight was on time, then it would have departed!  So, which was true?  One maybe, but it was impossible for  both to be true.

Again I waited about ten minutes before returning to the United Flight Status checker.  Again the report: “on time - has not departed”.  OK, you could feasibly sit on the runway waiting for takeoff fifteen minutes and technically not really be delayed.

Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.

In case you, have not been keeping track of time, it is now 5:20pm (CDT) and more than half of her layover time in Vienna had now been used up on the runway of Dulles.  Concern for her ability to catch her flight to Skopje was mounting!

Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.

What was up? (5:50pm CDT) According to United Airlines data they had been sitting on the tarmack for more than an hour!  So, deciding if I checked this site again and expecting a different report I was verging on insanity, I needed to try something different.  Googling FAA, I was directed to their site and airport delays was an option.  Clicking on Dulles, I received the report “FLIGHTS DELAYED - local thunderstorms”.  Well, that made some sense and it appeared Jen’s flight was just in the wrong slot.  The FAA site predicted delays to be up to 45 minutes,  we were closing in on an hour and twenty minutes since her flight departure time as scheduled.  If they could not make faster time over the Atlantic than entered on their flight schedule she would miss her flight out of Vienna.

I continued to monitor the FAA site and United’s flight status.

Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.

I now was growing in the certainty that her travel day would lengthen another twelve hours, because she most likely would miss her connection out of Vienna to Skopje.

Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.

Any hope of her making that Vienna connection had waned.  Concerns of another nature were starting to set in.  And the FAA site now declared NO delays out of Dulles.  Why had they not departed Dulles?  Why were they still sitting on the runway?  Traffic backed up from the delay?  That was the thought that seemed like the one I wanted to be true, the other thoughts weren’t so pleasant.  I have sat on the runway of LaGuardia long enough to see “Mr. Hollands Opus”, it can happen.  But why today?  Why this flight? Why Jen?

Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.
Another ten minutes went by: “on time - has not departed”.

We are now closing in on 7:30pm (CDT)....  that is a three hour delay!  Gee, I sure wish she hadn’t turned off her cell phone when she boarded that plan 4 hours ago!  But, if they are on the runway, probably wouldn’t do her any good.  If they are not on the runway....  then where are they?

So, I decided to try another search.  I merely googled her flight number and low and behold I was directed to a web site “Flight Stats”.  Presto chango.....  it brought up a status report on her flight!  It showed her United flight number as having departed ON TIME!  WHAT?

Now, which is the truth?  Here are two conflicting worlds!   United says her flight had not departed.   Flight Stats says they left Dulles on time! Who is correct....  United Airlines or Flight Stats?

I found renewed hope,  hope that she is not lost in Dulles confusion or inefficiency or tragedy; but actually in the air and headed over the Atlantic and maybe able to be on time to connect in Vienna!  The Flight Stats information provided hope for a turn around in being able to make the Vienna connection.

WOW!  Flight Stats offers a really cool feature -  a blinking green light and  a flight map.   You can actually see where the flight is!  You can actually track the progress and movement of the plane.  Reports include airspeed,  miles from take off,  miles to landing.   My math based on their data really gave me hope that her connection in Vienna had possibilities!  So much information also added to my judgement that they might be telling the truth.  Maybe Flight Stats was accurate not the operators of the flight.

Immediately I called Cass to share that maybe her sister had departed Dulles and she might even be on time for the Vienna Flight.  A big maybe, a maybe that would be true if we believed Flight Stats to be true and accurate and United Airlines to not be true or accurate!  I shared the website so Cass and Bo could track and watch for themselves.  Our evening had renewed vigor.   How cool to watch her flight!

About ten minutes went by, and Cass calls.  “Mom, that’s not the same report I get when I track the United Flight.  I don’t get access to the tracking.  I get a screen that tells me the flight does not exist.”

Hmmm... another conflicting report.  Now which is true?

  So, I log back in to Flight Stats.  They show me the flight, but not having traveled as far as my last viewing.  Now, what is true?  A fourth conflicting report.  With each of our computers,  Tim and I began monitoring and getting conflicting reports.  I had to hold onto the hope she would make it in time!

Trying once more,  I log in and receive the screen “Flight Does Not Exist”.

If there is something that can send you to immediate fright......  that will do it!  How did her flight just become non-existent?  What was going on?  Rather than freak or panic, I just entered the site again. Same response.  Surely, that was a techno goof, not a flight truth.  But to fight off the fear was difficult.
I did not share with Tim what my screen was displaying. He had not refreshed his computer for awhile, so I asked him to check on her flight status.   In a few minutes, he shared that they were not showing the flight having progressed but, at least his screen still had a blinking green light for the flight!

I chose to have faith in that blinking green light and wait in silence with what my computer screen had shown.

Jen’s scheduled flight time would have her landing in Vienna at about 1:30am Tuesday, September 13th (CDT).  The waiting continued.  For me there was not much sleeping that night,  but Tim needed to report to the railroad at 8am, so he had to sleep.  I took my computer with me up to bed and left it on and open..... waiting for an e-mail when she landed in Vienna.  That would be the assurance.  That would be the confirmation that indeed her flight had taken off from Dulles and did in fact still exist! (United Flight stats still showed the flight having not yet taken off from Dulles).

I did doze off....  and when my eyes flew back open it was 12:55am....  no e-mail.  I watched, watched, watched and at some point again doze off.  When I jerked back awake, there it was!  1:31 am.... 

“Hey family! I have made it to Vienna.  I got my passport stamped...first one ever!  I have found my gate. C39 if you want to look it up.  You have to go through security again so I am waiting for a bit, maybe get a Starbucks coffee :) Mostly I am just super tired, I have seen two sunrises since I left... crazy!  I love each of you so very much.  I will let you know when I arrive... it may have to be Tetovo since I do not know the internet access from here on.  ”
Hallelujah!

Safely, securely into Vienna and ready to head to Skopje!  And she never needed to know about our worrisome night!  She never had to hear my voice quake!  She was just tired!  I was just relieved and grateful!

Hallelujah!

After  boarding, good Lord willing - she would take off and  be in Skopje  after about a 2.5 hour flight!  Surely goodness and mercy will follow her into Macedonia!

The journey of 5521 miles begins with one flight to Chicago!

How do we decifer the truth when surrounded by conflicting reports? 

And isn’t that the way our days go?   We often get reports that cannot be true one with the other.  What will we believe?   How will the truth reveal itself to us?