COLUMN: Practice hopefully makes perfect

The last few years I have flown once a year. I don’t fly enough to make a big deal out of it like how to pack to have only carry-on or improve the routines from long-term parking the car to standing in line at the right terminal.

But I am comforted by the routine of hearing the procedures for emergency moments. It is encouraging to know when the procedures are needed and they work.

Last week, stories were growing over a lawsuit regarding a January flight that had a piece of the plane fall off early in the flight. The first six minutes of the flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario International Airport (west side of Los Angeles) had been routine, the Boeing 737 Max 9 about halfway to its cruising altitude and traveling at more than 400 mph. Then the piece of fuselage covering an inoperative emergency exit behind the left wing blew out, according to the Associated Press.

The pilots made an emergency landing back where they started in Portland. No one was seriously hurt.

More passengers were aboard an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 jet when part of its fuselage blew out in January are suing — including one who says his life was saved by a seat belt. The seat belt is part of the safety speech given by flight attendants.

Cuong Tran, of Upland, California, was sitting in the row behind where the side of the aircraft tore away and left a door-sized hole on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Jan. 5, according to a news release from attorney Timothy A. Loranger. Loranger, who filed the lawsuit, said air rushed out of the hole, pulling on Tran and others nearby the Associated Press story continues.

The suction tore Tran’s shoes and socks from his feet and he felt his body lift off his seat, the news release stated, adding that Tran’s foot was hurt when it was jerked into the seat structure in front of him.

Lawsuits like this deserve attention. But I hope someday, and soon, there is a story about how the pilots and flight crew did what they were trained to do at times like these. It was fortunate the plane’s altitude was still at a manageable height. Any higher, situations could have been worse. Any farther from an available airport and the story changes.

If the cockpit door is open when I leave the plane, I’ll tell the pilots “thanks.” They seem appreciative. In 2015 returning from California to Omaha, winds increased before the landing time. The pilot didn’t like the conditions and told the passengers we would circle the city a couple of times to wait for better conditions.

The Alaska incident reminded me of the flight in early 2009 that had an emergency landing in the Hudson River in New York. After takeoff, a large flock of large birds collided with the airplane causing mechanical troubles. The pilots were not confident the plane could return to the airport in its condition. The decision was made to land in the river, much like how a paper airplane guides to the floor. That story is depicted well in the Clint Eastwood-directed and Tom Hanks starring movie “Sully.”

As the pilot, Hanks used his training to assess the condition of the plane and the surroundings to find the best solution. A great reminder for knowing our training for emergency situations.

I remember where I was when the tornado hit Creston in April 2012, and what I did that day. I was working a weekly paper in eastern Colorado. That winter, many of the area’s emergency response teams were organizing a training day for a massive emergency, like a large, destructive tornado. There were places in town specifically staged for a result of the event, that the responders had to address.

Of course, the emergency crews wanted plenty of advance publicity so the other people in town would be fully aware of what is happening and know why there is a fire truck in a certain spot of town and a couple of law enforcement vehicles in another at the same time. That night, the storms that included the Creston tornado got some national attention.

Watching that emergency training exercise unfold was interesting. Knowing there are people in jobs who don’t know when they will have to use that training, and execute it well, is encouraging. This week is national weather awareness week. Please know what you are to do and where to go during severe weather.