We had left Boston at 6 a.m. on a really cold morning in the middle of January. We had to take a flight to Denver and then down to Dallas later in the day. We were flying an almost brand new Boeing 737. The plane had less than 500 hours on it. It had that new car smell to it. You have all smelled that smell before, right?
On board, was Andy Warhol and his publicist. I had already had bigger personalities on some of my previous flights, so he didn't ring my bell, so to speak. Of course, they both sat in first class. I also had about 20 skiers flying with us and they were excited to get to Denver and then to the resorts to fly. One young lady told me that this was her first flight. I told her, "Yeah, me too." She looked at her boyfriend and said, "Holy crap." He told her not to worry, he's just kidding.
We get about 80 miles from Denver and start going through the landing checklist to configure the plane for landing into Denver, which at that time was Stapleton Airport, which was one of United's major hubs. We're running down the checklist and the F/O says, "Gear down." Uh-oh. the nose wheel did not extend. We retracted the gear and tried again. Still, no nose gear. Do it again. No nose gear.
I tell the F/O to check what the CRM (Cockpit Resource Manual) says to do. He tells me that one of us has to go down into the Hell Hole and crank down the nose gear. So, here, you have to understand that if the nose gear does not extend, one of the pilots can lift up a trap door in the floor of the cockpit, which we call the Hell Hole and get down in there and crank it down manually. I'm the Captain, so guess who goes down into the hole? Right, the F/O. He goes down and cranks it down until we get a green light on the instrument panel of the plane and that means the gear is now down and locked. BTW, the Hell Hole is cold, very cold and dark, except this being a newer plane, they did put a small light down there. It's also very tight. for space.
The mechanic tells me later that the sensor was stuck open and he replaced it.
On board, was Andy Warhol and his publicist. I had already had bigger personalities on some of my previous flights, so he didn't ring my bell, so to speak. Of course, they both sat in first class. I also had about 20 skiers flying with us and they were excited to get to Denver and then to the resorts to fly. One young lady told me that this was her first flight. I told her, "Yeah, me too." She looked at her boyfriend and said, "Holy crap." He told her not to worry, he's just kidding.
We get about 80 miles from Denver and start going through the landing checklist to configure the plane for landing into Denver, which at that time was Stapleton Airport, which was one of United's major hubs. We're running down the checklist and the F/O says, "Gear down." Uh-oh. the nose wheel did not extend. We retracted the gear and tried again. Still, no nose gear. Do it again. No nose gear.
I tell the F/O to check what the CRM (Cockpit Resource Manual) says to do. He tells me that one of us has to go down into the Hell Hole and crank down the nose gear. So, here, you have to understand that if the nose gear does not extend, one of the pilots can lift up a trap door in the floor of the cockpit, which we call the Hell Hole and get down in there and crank it down manually. I'm the Captain, so guess who goes down into the hole? Right, the F/O. He goes down and cranks it down until we get a green light on the instrument panel of the plane and that means the gear is now down and locked. BTW, the Hell Hole is cold, very cold and dark, except this being a newer plane, they did put a small light down there. It's also very tight. for space.
The mechanic tells me later that the sensor was stuck open and he replaced it.
I wasn't sure, but was a bit pleased and amazed to think you might be. . . Ah yes, Chimney Flats. I always passed right by there on my way to Ohio to visit family. That's a pretty part of the state. 