2009-06-06

Danger at the airport

At SEA Thursday night, airport danger did not come from difficulty with a plane, unsavory characters, or even an overzealous TSA person. The runways and hallways were clear. The driveways -- not so much.

I hauled my luggage off the escalator and headed to the crosswalk so I could get the shuttle to my parkling lot (MasterPark, Lot B is great). And then a Fairfield Inn shuttle starts backing up quickly.

There are two lanes in the shuttle pick up area. The curb lane is where the drivers pick up passengers. The left lane is for passing shuttles that are picking up passengers. They both go the same direction.

For some bizarre reason, the shuttle driver from the Fairfield Inn decides he is going to back up.

Not only is he backing up, he is backing up diagonally, from the curb lane into the left lane.

Not only is he backing up from the curb lane into the left lane, he is doing it quickly.

Not only is he doing it quickly, he is also ignoring the other shuttle driver -- who is already in the left lane, in danger of being rammed and is pounding his horn.

Not only is he ignoring the pounding horn, he is also expecting the wall that separates me from the road to get the hell out of his way.

The wall decides to stay put.

*crunch*

The van hits the wall, bends the wall frame, and punches out a metal panel 15' from where I was walking.

The driver gets out and is stunned that dozens of people are looking at him like he's a moron.

The wall took some damage; the van very little.

And I wonder how many of that Fairfield Inn's guest decided to arrive by taxi that night.

3 comments:

Daisy said...

Gee! What a mishap! Well I decided to cool off from traveling myself esp after that missing french plane.

brokenteepee said...

Perhaps he was stunned to discover he WAS a moron....

It is good you were not hurt.

Cromely said...

@Daisy: It's a shame that whatever happened to that flight happened to that flight. I hope they find the cause soon.

@Pricilla: Well, I hope it was some sort of learning experience for him.