I find myself on commuter jets quite often for business. I will be honest, I do not like flying them. I happen to think that it is the “entry level” job for a new pilot.
Last Sunday I flew from LaGuardia to Dayton on a US AIR commuter flight that was running late. After we boarded the plane, the pilot came on and said, “Don’t worry, we may be leaving late but we are going to fly this plane like we stole it and get you to Dayton on time.”
In the immortal words of Seth Meyers, ‘really?’ And I thought the co-pilot looked a bit like Winona Ryder.
I was on a commuter flight from Cleveland to Indianapolis to attend some groups. We were above the clouds and the pilots had the cockpit door (or, rather, heavy curtain) open so if we passengers leaned into the aisle, we could clearly see them. Being bored, I decided to watch them do their thing. They were conversing quietly but with some animation, then put the plane into a steep descent to get below the clouds. The co-pilot brought out a road map. Yes. A road map. They looked around them at the ground, then at the map, then at the ground, then at the map. Finally, the pilot brought the plane back to its altitude above the clouds as the co-pilot put the road map away.
As you say, you cannot make these things up.