This job is a trip

While Tom Jones is on vacation, we've asked our beat writers to help fill the void. They will offer a taste of a reporter's life on the road. Today it's staff writer Dave Scheiber.

By DAVE SCHEIBER
Published August 2, 2007

This stunt would definitely not have worked with Jet Blue.

In fact, nowadays, I'm fairly certain it would get me led off any plane in handcuffs.

But one evening 20 years ago, I was sitting anxiously inside an Eastern Airlines plane, which was hopelessly backed up on a runway at Kansas City International. Thunderstorms were rolling across the Midwest, forcing an indefinite delay for our short flight to Indianapolis.

The aircraft was packed to the hilt with irritable, uncomfortable passengers. But nobody was more worried than yours truly.

I had to file an important story to the sports section of the Times - and I was on the verge of blowing deadline.

So I did what any young, desperate reporter would do under the circumstances. I tried to talk my way off the plane.

First, some background. It was late May 1987 and, as the NFL writer, I had traveled to San Diego to cover Tampa's successful bid to secure its second Super Bowl, set for 1991. I wrote and filed the story and, the next day, caught a one-stop flight from San Diego to Indy, where I would cover the 500. But I had to write a follow-up story on how the clutch Super Bowl effort succeeded.

I wrote the story, scheduled as the next day's lead, on the flight to Kansas City, Mo., and planned to send it on a pay phone during the layover.

Unfortunately, my story wouldn't transmit - a common occurrence in the era of prehistoric laptops. I called the office around 6 p.m EDT to say I'd have to file the story around 7:45 p.m. when I landed in Indianapolis. A minor inconvenience, I thought, boarding the flight.

We taxied to the runway and stopped. An hour passed, then two. Soon it was nearly 9 p.m. in the east - closing in on deadline - and I was starting to panic. In this pre-cell phone age, I couldn't tell anyone at the paper where I was or, more important, where the story was.

It was time for action. I approached a flight attendant and explained my plight: I was a reporter who'd soon be in huge trouble because there would be a gaping hole on the front of my paper's sports section - unless I could get off the plane. She smiled and told me to be patient.

Fifteen minutes later, I tried again. I must have looked convincing, because she went to talk with the captain. Minutes later, she walked casually to my seat and whispered, "They've radioed the gate, and they're going to try to get you off."

The game plan: When I got the signal, walk toward the rear of the plane, trying not to draw attention to the operation. The engines would be shut down for safety, and I'd leave through the back door down a stairway to the tarmac. The signal came. But after five steps, I realized I'd left my jacket in the overhead bin and had to race back for it. So much for the discreet getaway.

She opened the rear exit, where freedom awaited - along with an airport security car with a flashing red light. Great. I was in the middle of the runway, amid a dozen rumbling jets, about to hauled off for questioning.

Actually, security escorted me back to airside, where I used the phone inside the Eastern Airlines office to send my story.

It arrived with time to spare. Thank you, Eastern Airlines, RIP. Of course, I had to spend the night in Kansas City, but I made deadline and didn't get arrested. 

Favorite event you've ever covered

It wasn't a Super Bowl, Wimbledon or the Indy 500, but in terms of sheer fun, excitement and a wild scene - the Tampa Bay Rowdies' first indoor soccer championship in 1980. Runnerup: Smarty Jones' near Triple Crown win at the Belmont in 2004. Still feel bad Smarty lost.

Best airport

Tampa International

Easy to traverse, nice to come home to.

Worst airport

Atlanta

The size of a city, too hard to get from gate to gate.

Favorite sport(s) to cover

Football, baseball, tennis

Favorite sport to watch

Football

One athlete you've never interviewed, but want to

Willie Mays

[Last modified August 1, 2007, 23:00:16]