[img]1792|right|Jim Clarke||no_popup[/img]As one of the travelingest residents of Culver City, Jim Clarke’s unflappability was the perfect antidote for a bizarre day in the air and on the ground.
At 8:10 this morning, the City Councilman’s Washington-bound flight – a routine three-pronged business trip – lifted off from an LAX runaway.
At 2 o’clock this afternoon, by which time he was supposed to have landed, he was standing, instead, near a portal at virtually deserted, formerly thriving, downsized Ontario Airport.
He was about to board a flight – stop if you have heard this story – for Washington, D.C.
The six hours in between tested the mettle of the nomadic Mr. Clarke.
Just before boarding, Mr. Clarke was on his cell phone with a journalist, recounting the day’s events that would have rattled a greener traveler.
Here is how Mr. Clarke’s day has gone.
So far.
“I was on a United flight to Dulles (Airport). When we had been in the air for 25 minutes, an announcement came over the P.A. Passengers in the rear of the plane smelled something like smoke.
“One pilot went to the back. He confirmed that he also smelled the smoke. They told us we were turning around and would fly back to LAX.
“A couple minutes later, they changed their minds. Since they felt it was important enough to get on the ground quickly, they diverted us to Ontario.
“We did a pretty rapid descent. They did a number of sharp turns, which loses the lift under the wings of the plane so it can descend faster.
“We did a hot landing. Really hot. They were cranked up and then had to apply the brakes sharply. I don’t know if the runway at Ontario is shorter than LAX.
“Fire crews were ready for us, and the police were there, too.
Where There’s Smoke…?
“We stayed on the plane for a little bit until the pilot addressed us.
“He said we might see smoke, but it actually was steam. ‘We have asked the firefighters to hose down the brakes because they are so hot from the landing.
“The firefighters found a hot spot on the fusillade, which made them decide we should evacuate the plane in orderly fashion, leaving our carry-on baggage on the plane.
“When we came into the terminal at Ontario, it was pretty much deserted.
“They didn’t pull the plane up to the terminal. They kept it on the far side of the tarmac. That is why they had to shuttle us over, and with only two shuttles, it took multiple trips to move about 200 passengers.”
Mr. Clarke swallowed the delays with a shrug.
“Like being on a roller-coaster at Disneyland,” he said.
No, he positively was not worried.
“I didn’t smell any smoke,” he said, “and neither did the people around me. It seemed to have been confined to the back.”
His original flight was due to touch down at 4:30 EST this afternoon. Hours ago. By the news schedule, it will be 11 p.m.
Should the flight ultimately kiss the ground, Mr. Clarke has three destinations:
• The annual board meeting of the venerable progressive organization, Americans for Democratic Action, founded by Eleanor Roosevelt.
• He will be checking up on a new tenant at property he owns in Arlington, Va.
• “I will be walking the halls of Congress on behalf of consulting work that I am doing for Southern California Grantmakers.”
