(13 Dec. 86) Continental Air Micronesia is a different kind of airline. The 737 jets they operate have seen better days. Years of salt air have dulled the exterior and oil? leaks are normal. The interior is worn and the upholstery is spotted with stains. The baggage compartment once held a large sailfish. And this is the part that makes you grab the armrest tightly. When the aircraft is climbing and the cabin is being pressurized, the walls of the fuselage start bulging out. I wear my seatbelt at all times. I compare it to a 1975 Ford Fairlane from Honest Al’s Used Car Emporium.
A few months back an Air Mike Jet made an emergency landing at Kwaj. One engine was not operational and the aircraft touched down at around 2000 hours with a fire truck and ambulance in pursuit. When the jet stopped, two firemen in asbestos suits went on board to check the situation. The fire truck remained on the scene until the aircraft departed.
When the ground crew had finished their work on one of the engines, a really fine-looking blond ( a female pilot) left the terminal enroute to the plane. She had on a white blouse and tight black pants. I watched as she danced across the tarmac. Then about halfway there, she spread her arms like wings and soared the rest of the way to the ramp, dipping her body left and right as she made her final approach. As she neared the aircraft she jumped into the arms of the waiting male pilot, who was wearing very large pink sunglasses. He turned around and carried her to the steps.
An intense storm assaulted Kwajalein Island all day and most of the night. Heavy winds and a few Florida-type thunderstorms reverberated throughout the atoll. It seemed as if the coral reef might break up. Two tremendous blasts knocked out the police radio tower as well as the FM and TV stations. The thunder sounded like heavy artillery. I was surprised since lighting and thunder are rare out here. Our marine patrol had to rescue a windsurfer out on the lagoon at 1930. He was found clinging to a buoy in rough seas. The EC Resident Manager read him the riot act when he stepped off the boat.
Constable Tulensa told me that the residents of Bigej Island refused to leave their island because they were not satisfied with rent payments from the U.S.
The Marshall Islands government doesn’t recognize the Kwajalein Atoll Corporation anymore and it fined the KAC a million dollars for the last demonstration. The RMI has now taken over the job of distributing the rent money, paid by the U.S. Government to the landowners.
And, once more, the Army is going to try and complete the missile launch.
Filed under: Almost Paradise Volume 1
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