An ordinary day of a not so ordinary life of an international pilot
From the Flight Deck I held my bags and walked down the steep staircase, eyeing the van below. I was pretty exhausted, but all wound up – I had just flown from Cincinnati to Nagoya, Japan, which was just a hair over 14 hours. I’m an international cargo pilot, and land up in some great, weird and scary places – this month has been no exception so far. Walking to the hotel from the terminal can always be a bit of a task, but that day, the weather in Japan was unusually magnificent. We crossed the bridge, and took the elevator to the ground floor. Because the flight was so long, there were four of us pilots – two captains, and two first officers. We walked along the coastline of the airport, and to the hotel. While we were walking, we could see boats and ships bustling in the small harbor, loading passengers and fish before setting sail in the noonday sun. I remember being surprised when I got the weather report in the air before landing – the wind was calm and the skie