Sydney, Australia March 2009: The Qantas A380 from Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to Melbourne, Australia (MEL)

Economy class.

The welcome screen of the entertainment system.

Self-service bar in Economy class.

Self-service bar in Economy Class.

Self-service bar in Economy class.

Economy class.

Economy class meal.

Breakfast in Economy class.

That is New Caledonia down there.

Steady as she goes at 37,000'

Economy class seat and window.

Pulling into the gate.

Taxiing in just after landing.

Premium Economy class.

Business class.

First Class.

First Class

Lay flat bed in First Class

The wing tip as we arrived in Melbourne

Taxiing in.

London/Berlin Jan 31, 2009: London-Heathrow (LHR) to Houston-Intercontinental (IAH)

CO33 2FEB09 London-Heathrow International, London England (LHR) to Houston-Intercontinental, Houston, TX (IAH) 8:40a 1:40p 777 N78017
Flight Time: 9:48
Seat Map

We boarded the plane at 2:30p (It was going to be 3:00p, but it was changed for some reason). Once onboard, the Captain notified us that our original crew would be illegal if we left with them in charge so we had to wait for a new crew. He explained that they were on their way and were expected in about 30 minutes. The current crew had started boarding in order to help expedite our departure.

I looked out the window and saw snow on the wings and realized that we had to get decided at some point.

As I was really tired, I fell asleep, but awoke each time an announcement was made. One of them was that the crew was delayed due to the weather and security issues. I believe they eventually arrived at about 4:30p or so. The illegal crew ended up flying as passengers back to Houston on the same flight.

Immigration documents were passed out as we waited.

The crew was great as they kept us informed and apologized for a situation that was not in their control.

We had to get deiced and that cannot be requested until the doors are closed which occurred at about 4:45p or so I think. We got our deicing at 5:30p or so.

We then had to get anti-icing that would last for about two hours or so. This stopped ice form forming as we taxied out to the runway.

At 6:07p, we left the gate, 9:27 after the 8:40a departure time. We took off at 6:26p after carefully taxiing to runway 9R.

Quickly after takeoff, the crew served drinks, lunch and ice cream. Basically they served three services into one. This was necessary as everyone was tired from waiting and I guess hungry too.

There were meal choices of chicken or beef. I opted for the beef with mash potatoes. The light at my seat was not working as my entertainment system needed to be rebooted. So sorry about the dark picture. There was also a salad with a roll, crackers, cheese and a brownie.

I fell asleep soon after. I awoke somewhere over Ontario, Canada did some computer stuff, watched a few podcasts, read and then went back to sleep.

About an hour from landing, we were served a warm turkey and cheese sandwich with a pack of potato chips and a choclate bar.

We soon started our descent. I arrived at IAH at 9:41p, 8:41 late, but home.

London/Berlin Jan 31, 2009: Airplanes snowed in at Heathrow

I think the British Airways Boeing 777-200 started skidding...

That's the crashed British Airways 777 in the distance on the right.

A littel icy for flight; deicing a must.

Here you can see how much larger than the Boeing 737 is the Airbus A380. That clear area in the middle is the just cleaned runway. The airport was closed at this point while the cleaning occurred.

The trucks cleaning the runway.

Icicles anyone?

The snow on this A340-600 is impressive I think.

Anti-icing the wing of the Continental Boeing 777-200ER before the transAtlantic voyage.