Talk about crazy stuff…on Monday, I was on a flight from LAX to St. Louis with LL Cool J. He was headed to the All-Star game, I was going home after a relaxing week enjoying the southern California beaches. I had an opportunity to sit behind him in first class, but we didn’t talk much until our plane had to make an emergency landing in Kansas City.
There were two reasons for this: (1) because the passengers in the back of the plane had fumes causing their eyes to tear – the crew suspected a potential fire on board. At the very least, they were afraid the fumes were noxious; and (2) one of the passengers, who was inbound from Viet Nam, fell very ill and they suspected that we might have been exposed to the swine flu.
We first learned of the sick passenger about an hour into the flight when one of the flight attendants asked if there was a doctor on board who would be willing to take a look at him. I smiled to myself as I was reminded of a scene from Airplane. I wondered where Julie Hagerty was hiding. Little did I know what would later unfold.
We were later told that the CDC had been prepared to meet us in St. Louis. That changed when, a little over 2 hours after they announced they needed a doctor, we had to divert to KC because of the fumes. It was truly surreal – fire trucks greeted us on the runway, prepared for a fiery touchdown. Once everyone was certain that wasn’t going to happen, we proceeded to disembark into the terminal while we waited for the CDC to send a crew to check out the the plane (in full HazMat suits no less).
Back to LL Cool J. Given the circumstances, no one would have blamed him if he didn’t want to pose for photos or to be bothered by the other passengers. After all, we were waiting to learn if they were going to put us back on the same plane for the remainder of the flight. We were worried about an onboard fire and possible exposure to the swine flu. Undoubtedly, he was as worried as the rest of us. Instead, he carried on casual conversations with us, posed for photos and provided warm hugs and smiles. He was a real trooper and an absolute gentleman during the ordeal.
I posted a comment about it on ESPN, and it’s suddenly appearing all over the internet on news reports (they’re not giving me credit for it, though – which would have been nice as it would provide links to my web site ). They just refer to me as “a passenger.” Oh well…I guess that’s as close as I’m going to get for my “15 minutes of fame.” LOL!
LL, his agent, bodyguard and a lovely woman who was accompanying him decided not to get back on the plane. I don’t know whether she was his wife or an assistant – but she was very friendly and gracious as well. She was also somehow able to find a couple of SUVs and drivers to take them across the state from Kansas City to St. Louis at 11:00 p.m. on a Monday night (not an easy thing to do in the midwest).
Many other passengers opted not to get back on the plane (they didn’t find anything wrong, so they put us back on the same one). Those of us who did were a bit nervous and VERY glad to touch down in St. Louis about 2-1/2 hours later than originally scheduled.
Tags: airport, American Airlines, emergency landing, KC, LL Cool J, St. Louis, swine flu
