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Well to give you the backround on this trip, im half turkish, my dad was born and raised there, etc. my cousin is going to Temple here in the states and she goes back to Turkey every summer. so after some begging to my mom to let me go here I am. I haven't been here since 1999 and there was an earthquake in my hometown, so the whole town is changed and a lot smaller.
Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
But anyway on to the flight. Got up and had a usual morning. We were scheduled to leave PHL at 3:30 so we werent going to the airport until about 1:30 just incase. So we left the house at 1 and i was so excited to get going. So we drove to Philly, picked up my cousin and we were off. Traffic was surprising low for a saturday afternoon but i wasn't complaining. Driving south on I-95 i was watching some US Express Dash 8's landing on RW 26 and some various US Airways jets landing on 27R. So we entered airport rd. got to Terminal E, dropped me, my cousin and my mom off at Delta with our luggage and dad parked the car. Check in surprised me as well, it was empty. I would think Delta would have had more people on Saturday. So that was a breeze, allthough we were a bit concerned because we saw employees carrying baggage all over and baggage was everywhere behind the counter, but the ticket agent guy said that they were installing a new luggage belt and not to worry our bags would not be lost. So we had almost an hour and a half to do nothing, so the four of us sat in some rocking chairs on the walking bridge that connects Terminals D and E and watched the planes coming in and out. So at about 3:30 we headed for security. My cousin and I said our goodbyes and security was a breeze to. Empty once again and got through in less than 2 minutes. So we went all the way down to gate E15 and waited. Finally it was time to start boarding. Woman checked our passes and we went down the stairs and outside to the plane.
Date: June 20, 2004
Airline/ #: Atlantic Coast Airlines 5232
Aircraft: Dornier 328 Jet
From: Philadelphia
To: New York (JFK)
So luckily i got a window seat right behind the right engine and wing, where i like it. When we sat down the aircraft was just finished fueling up and we were ready for startup. It was great from my seat as the engines started. So we were off to RW 27L for takeoff. Taxi was surprisinly short as i hear some people say PHL taxiing is long. We followed a couple US Express Dash 8's and a US A319. So after we waited for them to takeoff we were cleared and off we went. A very short and powerful takeoffs, one of my favorites ever. So quickly through the cloud cover and a left turn towards NY through my home state of NJ. We were cruising around FL 180 or 200 im not sure because it was never announced. Service of course was minimal for such a short flight, just a bag of pretzels and a glass of coke. It was a nice smooth approach to 31L at Kennedy and the landing was great. A quick right turn off the RW and we were at Terminal 3. We just had to wait for a 757 to get to his gate and we parked. Got off and walked up the stairs into the terminal to wait for the next flight.
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York
Ok so first thing was to hit the bathroom. That always feels good, but then i had to wait for at least 20 mins for my cousin because the line for the womans restroom was so long. I almost fell asleep. So then I had plans to do. One of my good friends is Greek and he was leaving for Greece the same day as i was going to Turkey, so i told him id find his gate (since he was taking Delta as well) and we could say our last goodbyes in the country haha. So we found him half asleep because he drove all the way up to JFK hours ago. His flight was leaving 10 mins after us and he was so tired we only talked for about 15 mins and we went back to the gate. By that time boarding for our flight was almost finished already. I asked for a window seat but sadly there were none available. I was angry. So anyway we boarded and found our seats. it was a 2-3-2 formation and we were stuck in the middle.
Date: June 20, 2004
Airline, #: Delta Airlines, #72
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
From: New York (JFK)
To: Istanbul (Ataturk)
So after everyone had been seated we were just sitting at the gate for 20 mins. Everyone was wondering what the problem was. Finally the Captain announced there were some missing bags and they needed to be found. After about a 45 min wait we pushbacked, and started taxi. We taxied all the way around to RW 13L. Then for some other unknown reason, we stopped on the taxiway near the end of the runway and just sat there for at least a half hour. I had no clue why, and I couldn' even see what was happening. So after the wait we were cleared and had a reasonably smooth takeoff. Climbout was bumpy however as we made some turns. Now skipping to the food, it was horrible. The choice was beef or chicken, they were out of chicken when they got to me so i was stuck. Barely ate anything out of that horrible meal. Only slept maybe 1 hr of the 9 hr trip. Just watched the entertainment and listened to my cd player the rest of the time. Approach was great as we banked right to land we could see the city below us it looked beautiful. Landing was extremely smooth. Taxi was very short as well and 3 mins later we were parked. Because we were at the back, we were one of the last ones out of the plane. Once out we were out of the plane we were on our way to passport control. Only a short line and we were through in 5 mins. Then when we went to baggage claim. We only found 3 of our bags and we brought 4. So we were looking around the claim for an hour, and going to the lost and found place. They said it must have been one of the missing bags that we were waiting for and that it would probably be on the flight tomorrow. So thank goodness it was and we got it. But anyway My cousins sister picked us up and we finally got to sleep in a bed.
Sorry this wasn't supposed to be this long i guess i got out of hand haha. I'll have the return report from Istanbul- Philadelphia via Paris on Air France.
Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
But anyway on to the flight. Got up and had a usual morning. We were scheduled to leave PHL at 3:30 so we werent going to the airport until about 1:30 just incase. So we left the house at 1 and i was so excited to get going. So we drove to Philly, picked up my cousin and we were off. Traffic was surprising low for a saturday afternoon but i wasn't complaining. Driving south on I-95 i was watching some US Express Dash 8's landing on RW 26 and some various US Airways jets landing on 27R. So we entered airport rd. got to Terminal E, dropped me, my cousin and my mom off at Delta with our luggage and dad parked the car. Check in surprised me as well, it was empty. I would think Delta would have had more people on Saturday. So that was a breeze, allthough we were a bit concerned because we saw employees carrying baggage all over and baggage was everywhere behind the counter, but the ticket agent guy said that they were installing a new luggage belt and not to worry our bags would not be lost. So we had almost an hour and a half to do nothing, so the four of us sat in some rocking chairs on the walking bridge that connects Terminals D and E and watched the planes coming in and out. So at about 3:30 we headed for security. My cousin and I said our goodbyes and security was a breeze to. Empty once again and got through in less than 2 minutes. So we went all the way down to gate E15 and waited. Finally it was time to start boarding. Woman checked our passes and we went down the stairs and outside to the plane.
Date: June 20, 2004
Airline/ #: Atlantic Coast Airlines 5232
Aircraft: Dornier 328 Jet
From: Philadelphia
To: New York (JFK)
So luckily i got a window seat right behind the right engine and wing, where i like it. When we sat down the aircraft was just finished fueling up and we were ready for startup. It was great from my seat as the engines started. So we were off to RW 27L for takeoff. Taxi was surprisinly short as i hear some people say PHL taxiing is long. We followed a couple US Express Dash 8's and a US A319. So after we waited for them to takeoff we were cleared and off we went. A very short and powerful takeoffs, one of my favorites ever. So quickly through the cloud cover and a left turn towards NY through my home state of NJ. We were cruising around FL 180 or 200 im not sure because it was never announced. Service of course was minimal for such a short flight, just a bag of pretzels and a glass of coke. It was a nice smooth approach to 31L at Kennedy and the landing was great. A quick right turn off the RW and we were at Terminal 3. We just had to wait for a 757 to get to his gate and we parked. Got off and walked up the stairs into the terminal to wait for the next flight.
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York
Ok so first thing was to hit the bathroom. That always feels good, but then i had to wait for at least 20 mins for my cousin because the line for the womans restroom was so long. I almost fell asleep. So then I had plans to do. One of my good friends is Greek and he was leaving for Greece the same day as i was going to Turkey, so i told him id find his gate (since he was taking Delta as well) and we could say our last goodbyes in the country haha. So we found him half asleep because he drove all the way up to JFK hours ago. His flight was leaving 10 mins after us and he was so tired we only talked for about 15 mins and we went back to the gate. By that time boarding for our flight was almost finished already. I asked for a window seat but sadly there were none available. I was angry. So anyway we boarded and found our seats. it was a 2-3-2 formation and we were stuck in the middle.
Date: June 20, 2004
Airline, #: Delta Airlines, #72
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
From: New York (JFK)
To: Istanbul (Ataturk)
So after everyone had been seated we were just sitting at the gate for 20 mins. Everyone was wondering what the problem was. Finally the Captain announced there were some missing bags and they needed to be found. After about a 45 min wait we pushbacked, and started taxi. We taxied all the way around to RW 13L. Then for some other unknown reason, we stopped on the taxiway near the end of the runway and just sat there for at least a half hour. I had no clue why, and I couldn' even see what was happening. So after the wait we were cleared and had a reasonably smooth takeoff. Climbout was bumpy however as we made some turns. Now skipping to the food, it was horrible. The choice was beef or chicken, they were out of chicken when they got to me so i was stuck. Barely ate anything out of that horrible meal. Only slept maybe 1 hr of the 9 hr trip. Just watched the entertainment and listened to my cd player the rest of the time. Approach was great as we banked right to land we could see the city below us it looked beautiful. Landing was extremely smooth. Taxi was very short as well and 3 mins later we were parked. Because we were at the back, we were one of the last ones out of the plane. Once out we were out of the plane we were on our way to passport control. Only a short line and we were through in 5 mins. Then when we went to baggage claim. We only found 3 of our bags and we brought 4. So we were looking around the claim for an hour, and going to the lost and found place. They said it must have been one of the missing bags that we were waiting for and that it would probably be on the flight tomorrow. So thank goodness it was and we got it. But anyway My cousins sister picked us up and we finally got to sleep in a bed.
Sorry this wasn't supposed to be this long i guess i got out of hand haha. I'll have the return report from Istanbul- Philadelphia via Paris on Air France.
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