And Then There Was That Time On Air France...

I can’t help it. I lived in data centers for too long. I am around computer equipment. I shouldn’t be smelling that distinct, electrical smell! Especially when I am getting onto an airplance for a 7 or 8 hour flight back to JFK from Paris.

I boarded my flight from CDG back to JFK. I get to board early. Sniff… sniff… what is that smell? Rhetorical, I know the smell. But, there are so many people who walk through and maintain the aircraft. Certainly they smelled it? Do I need to worry about this? The plane wasn’t new but perhaps they installed some new electrical components? Sometimes there is a ’new electrical’ smell that needs to burn off after a bit? Surely someone else would have smelled it, right?

Do I say something? And if so, to whom? Ah, I see the flight attendant… “um, you probably smell that also, do you know if they were doing anything to the electrical system on the plane? The pilot is aware, right? And he is okay with that smell?” She just looked at me and didn’t say anything… then she disappeared and returned with the pilot. Oy… if he is coming to look, maybe he did not know about this?

Then there was the announcement. A maintenance crew was coming on board to check a system or two. No cause for alarm and we should be pushing back on schedule…

Then there was the maintenance team. I think it is a French thing :) There are four of them (there is another story about taking a trip by rail from Paris and there were 7 or 8 maintenance guys standing around…looking very French….but that is another story for another time!)

They are sniffing. The smell it because now they are removing overhead panels… checking connections… but, I don’t think they are able to find the cause of the odor. Because they keep looking. For over 90 minutues… “oh, I am so sorry my fellow passengers! I too want to get back home… but I want to be safe and not have to worry about anything airplane related… I am such a terrible flyer”

To their credit (or as a result of their frustration?) the maintenance team eventually replaced something and said that it was related to the overhead lighting (and most likely would not have been an issue for concern…)

We arrived in New York City just a little late (perhaps 45 minutes?) but the flight crew made up most of the time we lost.

That was me… singlehandedly delaying an Air France flight from Paris back to JFK. Next time, I will tell you about the red button on the ceiling of a Long Island Railroad train and why you should not press it when the train is in motion!

Have questions or want to share your own sysadmin story? Leave a comment below!

(I will set up comments eventually ;)