Updated on August 20, 2017
Flight Log of American Airlines Flight 187 from Chicago O’Hare to Beijing on August 11th, 2016
Since our previous flight AA3365 arrived basically on time at Chicago O’Hare, we were left with 5 hours for our connection. What’s more, FlightAware.com told me that our aircraft has quite some delay for its previous flight coming from San Francisco, which meant it’s guaranteed to arrive late at O’Hare, so our connection could well be quite longer.
The images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.
Since Subway was closer to the gate where we got off the plane, and I reasonably guessed that airport McDonald’s won’t be this generous to offer McPicks, we picked Subway for lunch.
O’Hare Airport Terminal 3
O’Hare Airport Terminal 3Presumably these are American Airlines’ destinations from Chicago.
Having picked our seats at the tip of terminal 3 (for there’re fewer people there at the moment, which meant fewer competition for power outlets), my whole afternoon was basically writing homework essays alternating with plane spotting, while listening to CNN reporting live the hunger games presidential race, and catching Pokémon basically for the last time in months. I had to see spending 5 hours this way wasn’t boring at all.
American Eagle CRJ200 (N517AE) TaxiingOff to Detroit.
American Airlines 763 (N342AN) At the GateOff to Miami.
Frontier Airlines A320 (N223FR) TaxiingComing from Miami.
Air Berlin A332 (D-ALPA) Being Towed
American Airlines MD80 (N9618A) Taxiing
Iberia A333 (EC-LUX) Taxiing
Two American Airlines Planes in Old Livery
Air Berlin A332 (D-ALPA) Being Towed
It seemed to me that the Air Berlin A332 was towed in a circle back to where it was five minutes ago. Guess it’s due to the traffic volume and complicated ground maneuver at Chicago O’Hare.
American Airlines B77E (N755AN) At the GateOff to Rome.
American Airlines B738 At the GateOld livery with new radar cover.
American Airlines B788 (N801AC) At the GateThe plane to take us back to Beijing.
Ground Crew Loading Cargo for American Airlines B788 (N801AC)
American Airlines Fleet in Chicago
Wide-body Jets in Chicago O’Hare Terminal 5
American Airlines B788 (N805AN) At the GateArrived from Japan.
Finally it’s boarding time. This time, there were nominally two lines to board the plane, one for priority and one for everybody else. But since we were delayed, everyone’s free to pick the line that seemed shorter.
American Airlines E170 (N229NN) TaxiingOff to Arkansas.
American Airlines B763 (N380AN) At the GateOff to Dusseldorf.
American Airlines B763 (N383AN) At the GateComing from Dallas.
Planes Taxiing in Chicago O’Hare
Swiss Airlines A333 (HB-JHG) TaxiingOff to Zurich.
Sunset at Chicago O’Hare
Chicago O’Hare Terminal 5 Against Sunset Glow
I processed the tones of the previous two pictures.
Lufthansa B748 (D-ABYH) Arriving
Chicago O’Hare Terminal 5 Against Sunset
United Airlines E135 (N16987) TaxiingOff to Fargo, North Dakota.
O’Hare Airport Terminal 5
O’Hare Airport Terminal 5
O’Hare Airport Terminal 5
Hilton Hotel by Chicago O’HareAs I took this shot, we were already accelerating.
Chicago O’Hare From Above
North Chicago and Shorelines of Lake Michigan
Clouds Above North Illinois
Waukegan Town and Harbor
Waukegan National Airport
Oak Creek Power Plant
General Mitchell International Airport of Milwaukee
Setting Sun on Wingtip
This trip I wisely picked the right-hand side window seat away from the sun. The clouds seemed equally magnificent, just without the bother of sun shining directly on the face.
Dinner ServiceI’m no big fan of the leaves, I hate the beans. So overall, this wasn’t quite a nice dinner. But at least, the bottled water looks a lot nicer than the super-cheap brand on the flight from Beijing.
Dinner ServiceThis chicken and potato actually tastes good.
Sunset over Canada
My Onboard Entertainment with My Friend Next-SeatMy classmate found this game in AA’s on-board entertainment pad. And having taught me the rules of this luck-based game, we had a try. The result was that, before we could finish the game, the app crashed.
Given AA 187’s original schedule of (1750 to 2020+1), my original plan of dealing with jet-lag was to stay awake the whole day (for a little bit more than 24 hours). However, since Ithaca’s so remotely located that our Syracuse Airport shuttle picked us off Cornell Dormitory at 0700, and I haven’t caught any rest in the day, I was really tired not long after dinner services. Plus, my all-important homework essay was more or less finished since I was cramming for it basically the whole day, in the airport and on the planes. So, I convinced myself to take a small nap, which lasted more than half the flight.
Bathroom on AA’s 787It seemed that American Airlines managed to kept it real clean and tidy.
Snack Services Mid-Flight
Night View of East BeijingThe plane entered the Sixth Ring of Beijing as I began to take a brief glance of the night views.
Night View of East BeijingThe plane entered the Sixth Ring of Beijing as I began to take a brief glance of the night views.
Night View of East BeijingThe plane entered the Sixth Ring of Beijing as I began to take a brief glance of the night views.
Landing in PEK Runway 19I like the way spoilers were illuminated in this shot.
Beijing Airport Terminal 2
Ethiopian Airlines B772 At the Gate
Air China A333 (B-5906) At the GateComing from Tokyo, and Off to Singapore.
We cleared immigration at PEK real quick, but waited quite long for our checked bags (Yes, I’m reserving harsher words for PVG weeks later). I found a note in one of my checked bags (which contained a computer without battery) that says some TSA officer has opened this bag for “random” security checks. I guessed that officer wasn’t very good at dealing my bags, as I found my bag OPEN at the belt. Thank God, it wasn’t an embarrassment as it still looked like a proper bag without clothing hanging out, and everything’s accounted for.
The customs at Beijing Airport opened but two X-ray machines so there’s another hell of a line there. As usual, they didn’t bother to find anything taxable.
Since I slept for quite some time on the airplane, the next few days my body basically didn’t have a biological clock. It seemed the slots (1750 to 2020+1) were a lot worse than it seemed if there’s a previous connection at Chicago.
END
Flight Log of American Airlines Flight 187 from Chicago O’Hare to Beijing on August 11th, 2016 by Huang's Site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.