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Fll-sju-fll 3/25-3/27/06

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  • Fll-sju-fll 3/25-3/27/06

    Hopefully, this post won't be as lengthy as my last trip report http://www.jetphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=31114 This trip came about as a result of a cancelled MIA-PHL-MIA trip from last December. Even with the rebooking fees, I only had to pay $29.00 and change for this trip. So away I went.

    3/25/06 Flight 1963 FLL-SJU AA 752
    I had trouble reading the reg. #, AA seems to try to hide it. I thought it was N665AN, but I checked on the FAA website and no such registration exists. I tried N665AA, and that was assigned to an AA 752 (certified in March, 1992), so I'll assume that was it.
    We were scheduled to depart at 12:56 PM from gate F8 at FLL's terminal 3. At gate F6 was a TED flight (I forgot it's destination) which was scheduled to leave at 1:00 exactly. For some reason, we didn't push back until 1:02, while the TED must have gotten out on the dot, as it took off 2 planes before we did. Oh well. Due to wind conditions, we took off to the west (normally takeoffs and landings are done to the east at FLL, as they are at MIA) We were wheels up at 1:17 (lot of traffic at that hour), turned to the north, and then headed out over the Atlantic. We flew over the Bahamas, then open ocean until arriving at Puerto Rico. As the descent started, I noticed my ears started to clog up and by the time we landed, I was experiencing some plane. This was very surprising, as this had not happened to me since 1978 (on a National Airlines 727 from MIA to JFK). I thought it was possibly because I had a slight cold, by my mother who was traveling with me and did not have a cold, also had difficulty.
    The 2 days in San Juan were nice, the trip was for R & R so I did not see any sights, in fact did not travel more than a few blocks from the hotel. The hotel was very close to SJU, in fact, my 5th floor room had an excellent view of planes landing! I got several good shots, mostly of AA 752s and 767s and American Eagle props (ATR? Dash-. AA has a pretty good size Eagle hub at SJU, with lots of flights to other parts of PR and neighboring islands. I did get a pic of a US A330

    3/27/06 Flight 2214 SJU-FLL AA 752
    Seems like the reg # on this plane was missing (isn't that an FAA violation of some sort?), or AA had hid it somewhere not visible from the terminal. Oh well. The flight was pretty full, except I ended up having all 3 seats to myself! (11D-E-F) We pushed back only 2 minutes behind the scheduled 3:38 departure time. This flight was mostly uneventful. When I observed that we were passing over the Bahamas, I knew we weren't far from our destination, and shortly thereafter, our descent began. Unfortuantely, I experienced ear problems again I figured maybe on the outbound that it was a pressurization problem on the particular plane (N665AA) on the outbound, but 2 times in a row--maybe something's up w/ the pressurization on AA's 752s (I think both planes were original AA equipment and not ones acquired in the TW merger). Anyway, now that I've used that credit, I doubt if I'll be flying AA again. With FLL as my home airport, I can get pretty much anywhere I want to go on B6 or WN (indeed, my next 2 scheduled trips will be on those carriers--JFK on B6 in May, MCO on WN in June) And if I want to return to SJU, I can probably try Spirit.


    Some planes I spotted at FLL on 3/25:

    Air Canada A-321 C-GUIE (I think)
    Ted A-320 (the one that jumped ahead of us) N414UA (or maybe it was N464UA)
    WN 737-700 winglets N789SW

    I'm curious, has anyone experienced pressurization problems on AA 752s, or was I unlucky. In the past, I flew AA 752s on domestic mainland flights (JFK-LAX, MIA-LAX, JFK-MIA) without problems. It could have been the altitude, we had FL 380 on the return, and similar on the outbound, I checked flightaware.com and today's flight 2214 is assigned FL 400!

    Speaking of flight 2214, I noticed that on Thurs. 3/23, it diverted to MCO and after a couple hours flew down to FLL. I didn't hear about any incident at FLL which would have caused a diversion (I was in town all day Thursday, so I should've heard about it on the news, any ideas?)

    So much for being briefer this time

  • #2
    FLL had some pretty good delays due to thunderstorms on the 23th...maybe a fuel stop diversion?

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by DeltaFlyer
      FLL had some pretty good delays due to thunderstorms on the 23th...maybe a fuel stop diversion?
      Maybe, though MCO is further away than FLL, though the 752 would've had sufficient fuel to reach MCO. If the thunderstorms were widespread, that would explain why they didn't divert to MIA or PBI (not sure if AA even runs mainline to PBI)

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      • #4
        Originally posted by transitfan
        Maybe, though MCO is further away than FLL, though the 752 would've had sufficient fuel to reach MCO. If the thunderstorms were widespread, that would explain why they didn't divert to MIA or PBI (not sure if AA even runs mainline to PBI)
        AA runs mainline to PBI, but not 757. I think that 757s come here during the seasonal service. IIRC, it's all Md-80s right now.
        Whatever is necessary, is never unwise.

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        • #5
          Here are some aircraft pics I took during this trip: *** 56K WARNING! ***

          A Continental 767 (I think it's a 767) at SJU:



          American Eagle ATR-72 about to land at SJU:



          AA 757:



          I think this is an AA 767:



          (continued in next post)

          Comment


          • #6
            More pics:
            Song/Delta 757:



            Wingleted 73G, unidentified airline (any ideas?)



            Nice to see a 727 (Again, any help w/ the airline would be appreciated)



            I was surprised to see a US A-330, I thought they only flew to Europe



            To be continued...

            Comment


            • #7
              Still more pics...

              Another Song 757, the next day, with a threatening cloud in the background:



              Some DC-3s at SJU:



              AA 752 N684AA taxing to the gate:



              And finally, my ride back to FLL, N652AA arriving at the gate:

              Comment


              • #8
                Nice to see a trip report from SJU. I was there in November & enjoyed it.

                For some of the pictures you weren't sure about:
                -First pic is a CO 757-300
                -The 727 is from Amerijet, a cargo company
                -The 73G is from Copa.

                DeltaRules


                http://www.flightlevel350.com/aviati...r=Josh+Sprague

                Comment


                • #9
                  Delta, thanks for the corrections/updates

                  Couple of pics I forgot:

                  Spirit Airbus (I'm think it's an A-320):



                  Northwest A-320?

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