Wednesday morning found me seated in 3C on a Delta flight from San Francisco to Atlanta. I was on my way to Birmingham, Alabama for a meeting of Brownell Travel's IC Advisory Board. Seated across from me in seat 1A was the America's Cup.
Yes, my traveling companion was none less than the prestigious Cup awarded to the winner of the world's greatest sailing race. Protected inside a traveling case, it was accompanied by a personal security guard (seated in 1B) on the way to their final destination, Frankfurt, Germany. While in the Bay Area, I am told, the Cup is safeguarded in an "undisclosed location" — a building I suspect owned by the Oracle Corporation. But I speculate.
It was not an uneventful flight. After departing a half hour late, the captain came on the PA shortly after take-off. "I'm afraid I have bad news," he informed us. "We're having issues with the landing gear. The lights indicate it has not retracted. We're returning to San Francisco and will be landing in 30 minutes. Crew, prepare the cabin for landing."
Making my connection in Atlanta was the least of my concerns. The primary concern obviously was a safe landing at SFO. And if we didn't? I realized what would be the next day's headline: America's Cup Destroyed in SFO Crash.
Thankfully, the Delta crew flew us safely back to SFO... and then safely to Atlanta two hours late. The arrival gate was at one end of Terminal A. Doing my best OJ imitation racing through the airport, I actually made my connection (at the absolute end of Terminal B) totally out of breath with a couple of minutes to spare.
Hope America's Cup enjoyed the Delta One service to Frankfurt!
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