Crabby Maui

I couldn’t resist another travel blog. This one involves in-flight turbulence. Picture yourself in the cockpit of a 4-seat Cessna with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean and Kahului, the airport you just left on the isthmus of Maui, Hawaii. This was me a few years ago. What a great trip. What a fabulous sight. I was the third passenger, the first two being Kioki, our instructor/pilot and Jeff Ward, my business partner who was copilot/in-training pilot trying to get a few more flight hours. Where better than in Hawaii to enjoy a little flight instruction?

After taking off, we flew toward the West Maui Mountains and on over to the sea cliffs on Molokai and Lanai before heading back to Maui. The flight was smooth and fun, not the least bit scary and there was really no concern for the wind or the weather. The pilots handled the ride differently: Kioki was calm and Jeff was, um, hyper-alert. As we made our way back around to Maui we could see Lahaina and then we circled around the West Maui Mountains toward the isthmus on the south side. Kioki, a VERY seasoned flyer, casually mentioned that we would be breaking free of the protection of the mountains and that the trade winds through the isthmus were significant. We noticed a definite line in the water ahead where the calm sea gave way to the waves churned up by the wind. On cue, Kioki said, “…we always feel the wind right about here when we come around this … [something indecipherable because of the sudden blender-like shuddering of the increasingly tiny gnat-plane we were wrapped in]”. I think he meant mountain. Wow, you think turbulence is bad in a big plane? This was eventful because A) I have never been shaken so violently in a tiny craft before and B) Kioki found our girl-like screams amusing.

Upon approach, Kioki told Jeff that the crosswind was about 30-40 knots with gusts. According to Kioki this is normal wind for the isthmus between two GIANT mountains with the trade winds, etc. According to Jeff, this was a reason to avoid takeoff – let alone attempting to land. In Arizona, these conditions cause private plane owners to divert. Kioki told Jeff to throttle back all the way to idle. Really, it looked like the propeller stopped spinning. We stayed in the air as a result of two forces: the wind and the audible prayers uttered from the back seat.

This landing reminded me of a short flight I took to Salt Lake City. I learned some new aviation terms during this flight – and not the ones used by other passengers who were puking in bags around me. We actually ran out of barf bags on that flight. Seriously, I didn’t think commercial planes could be bounced around the sky like this one was. When we got closer to landing, the wind, clouds, and, well, tornados were a little disconcerting. I was informed after we landed that they closed the airport. Our flight was evidently the experience that tipped the should-we-close-this-sucker-down scale. Upon approach, the plane’s nose pointed toward the mountains. We were flying at about a 45 degree angle relative to the runway. They call this ‘crabbing’ perhaps because crabs fly sideways. Crabbing allows the pilot to fly against crosswinds. I think I crabbed my pants.