Rocky charter flight frightens Rays

Wind shear conditions that set off the plane's alarm result in an aborted landing at Kansas City on Thursday.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 28, 2000

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The persistent white-knuckle turbulence on the flight from Detroit to Kansas City was scary enough. But a last-second aborted landing because of dangerous wind shear left several Devil Rays saying they were thankful to be alive.

"The end of that plane ride was so scary, I immediately took out pictures of my wife and kids and studied them and showed them to the stewardess," catcher John Flaherty said. "That was my initial thought. It makes you think about some things that are really important, and those two kids and my wife are what's really important."

Rough weather throughout the Midwest made for an extremely bumpy ride virtually the whole flight. Thoughts of Tuesday's Concorde crash in France made for an even more uncomfortable experience during the two-hour trip.

But a severe storm, which moved across the Kansas City airport spewing wind gusts in excess of 70 mph, put the Delta Air Lines charter flight in the most peril as the plane began its descent around 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

Team traveling secretary Jeffrey Ziegler, a former St. Petersburg police officer, said the Boeing 757 was no more than 200 feet above the runway when the pilot, in response to the plane's wind shear detection alarm system, aborted the landing and took the plane back into the air.

The passengers, with no advance warning of the maneuver, were startled and concerned, to say the least, as the plane strained to gain altitude and shook from side to side.

"I've never been more afraid in my life, and I've been in some pretty hairy circumstances as a cop," Ziegler said. "My heart was pounding. I don't know any other way to describe it. I was petrified. I was pale white. There's no other way to put it. Everyone was talking about it. Ozzie Guillen may have put it best. He said, "You're going to force me to retire.' "

Several players said it was the most scared they had been on a flight. "I put my seat belt on and just closed my eyes," Miguel Cairo said. "I was praying the airplane would get back safely to the ground."

Said Bubba Trammell: "It was a thing where you just pray to God that you get down safe and get to the hotel."

The Rays praised the performance of the pilot, who eventually explained to them what had happened and brought the plane in for a safe landing.

"In my estimation, he must have done a hell of a job to avoid it," Ziegler said. "There ain't no telling what would have happened if he would have tried to continue his approach. I don't even want to think about. And in the back of your mind, you're seeing the Concorde going down in flames. It was scary."

As horrific as the episode was, the Rays found out later Thursday that it could have been worse. Only because of a quirk in Delta's scheduling were they on a 757, Ziegler said. Normally they travel on a 727, which is older and smaller, and does not contain the sophisticated wind shear detection equipment that alerted the pilot to the danger.

"If we were in the 727, it would have been a pretty ugly situation," catcher Mike DiFelice said. "I don't know if the results would have been the same."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

Headlines

Americans Lose in 1st Round of Davis Cup

---