FHE 6999
From: Zurich
To: Zurich
ETD: 11:00
ETA: 12:00
Aircraft: MD-90
Registration: HB-JIF
Seat: 3E
Check-in was a blast. We had our dedicated counter at check-in 3 (probably the only Hello flight at that time of the day) and it took about 30 seconds per person to do the check-in, as was to be expected: after all, there was no checked luggage (although it would have been fun to try sending the luggage from Zurich to Zurich), no connecting flight, just standard.
This is the first time I got a boarding pass where the departure and the destination airport are the same
And guess what... I was early! For some reason I'm always early at the airport. To kill the whole hour I had, I went browsing the many shops there are at Zurich Airport. Then, at 10:25, boarding time finally arrived.
We didn't have a jet bridge. Hello flights usually board using a bus. So here it was, our bus bringing us to the airplane which would fly us to... Zurich.
Soon we reached our stand. The airplane wasn't quite ready yet, but we were still allowed to leave the bus to take picture of this beautiful MD-90.
Finally, boarding began. I took a moment to take a couple of pictures from the top of the stair.
The aircraft from a nice perspective
The crowd waiting to board
We were greeted on board by the captain and 2 flight attendants and the organizer of this special flight. I quickly took my seat, 3E, and immediately noticed the nice Hello logo on the bulkhead.
The aircraft interiors were nice, like your average MD-90. A bit cramped, if you ask me. But everything was still in perfect working order and in a very good shape. After all, Delta is apparently purchasing the MD-90's retired by Hello.
In the meantime, the de-icing truck started doing its thing...
... and the captain showed up to welcome us on board personally.
He's a really nice guy and he did his best to make this flight a really enjoyable one - and definitely succeded at it! You could tell by the things he told us that he's a real aviation enthusiast. Just perfect for a flight like this one!
Now the waiting part began. For some reason, ATC lost our flight plan (yes, they do have a mess because of airspace restrictions due to the World Economic Forum in Davos), and the Hello guys had to re-dispatch everything. This took the best part of an hour. The pilot apologized and kept entertaining us with news from ATC, which was nice. 45 minutes late, we finally pushed back.
The cabin crew made a funny safety briefing, with all sorts of jokes. "Yes, even the MD-90 is equipped with a pressurized cabin" ... "As we'll be flying over Lake Geneva today, we need to show you how to use the life jackets". And finally, the best part: "The use of electronic devices is not permitted during take-off and landing - except for your cameras, of course". The crowd cheered!
A couple of minutes later, we took off from Runway 28. I was really impressed by the MD-90's take-off performance. The last time I've flown on one was when I was a little kid, so I didn't really remember these details. Our light take-off mass of 60 tons helped making it feel even faster and more powerful. We rotated at 140 kts. And boy, is it silent!
You can find a video of take-off and landing at the end of the trip report.
There was a thick layer of high fog, but we quickly passed through it (it was at approximately 3-5000 feet or so). Above that, weather was beautiful.
As I said, the eastern part of the Swiss airspace was off-limits due to the WEF (which is a pity, as the Canton of Graubünden has very nice mountains), so we settled for a flight over the west part of the Alps. We flew towards the Bern region, where we could take pictures of the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau montains, then proceeded towards Canton Wallis/Valais. We could even see the Matterhorn far away, but we were unable to circle around it due to departing traffic from MXP. The entire sightseeing part took place between FL160 and FL190.
Enjoy the view!
Lots of Swiss mountains...
Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau
More Swiss mountains...
Canton Wallis/Valais
The Matterhorn in the background, in the clouds
The revolving restaurant on top of Mount Pilatus
The pilot was nice and did extensive 360 degree turns to the left and to the right around the most prominent landmarks, adding frequent comments on our whereabouts.
In the meantime, AirEvents held a prize draw of 2 MD-90 models, in 1:100 and 1:150 scale.
Soon we had to start our short descent towards Zurich. We entered that layer of fog again, and a few minutes later we landed safely on Runway 28 again.
During the "thank you and goodbye" announcement, which can be heard in its entirety in the video linked below, the cabin crew authorized us to steal the MD-90 safety card. Cue the cheering crowd once again!
And we were also encouraged to stop by, chat with the pilot, take a seat in the cockpit and take pictures. How does that sound?
The bus drivers had already been instructed by the crew to be patient, as it would take a while for everyone to deplane, take pictures and everything. After taking the 2 quick snapshots of the cockpit, I took a few more pictures from the outside.
The rear exit is always a bit special...
Isn't it a bit cold??
While waiting for everyone to get out of the plane, I also took a couple of quick pictures of other airplanes.
Finally, the bus brought us to the baggage claim area. Guess what? We even had our own baggage claim belt! Automated systems galore...
And here's our (very delayed) flight at the top of the "Arrivals" table
A quick snapshot of the very cramped arrival hall...
And last but not least, here's the video of the captain saying hello, as well as recordings of take-off and landing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFmNGLdNH7Q
My main impressions:
- very friendly crew
- an enthusiastic captain
- very powerful and silent airplane
- great organization of a sightseeing flight in an airliner
What can I say? This was a really nice flight, with a great crew - the pilots and all the flight attendants. Thank you to Hello and AirEvents for organizing this. I'd join such an event again anytime!
The flight was a great experience, certainly one that I couldn't miss. I've only just arrived back in the UK, so have yet to look at my pictures, but hopefully they came out as well as yours.
