"What are the chances of the wings falling off during the thirty minutes to Philadelphia?"

I was on a trip south (I don't remember where) and my return to Philadelphia required a change of planes at Washington National. When I walked out of the gate towards the airplane I wondered "What in the world is this thing?" As I got closer I thought "Maybe this is an Electra". I kept walking, in spite of a strong urge to turn around, and went up the stairs into the aircraft. I was seated midships, right side, opposite a curtained area.

I thought to myself, "What are the chances of the wings falling off during the thirty minutes to Philadelphia?" I decided they were not very high.

As the airplane rotated, a tremendous banging and clattering came from behind the curtain opposite my seat. I first thought there might be a door there that had not been closed properly, but as our climb continued and the curtain did not flutter, I decided that could not be the cause of the crashing sounds I had heard. When the seat belt light was turned off, two women TA's came forward and each peeked in one end of the curtained area and both screamed.

When the curtain was drawn it was revealed that the trays with dirty dishes from the meal service before the Washington stop had been stored in a vertical cabinet, with the door perpendicular to the axis of the plane. The door had come open and all the trays, dishes and garbage had landed on the floor of the galley.

Our flight was on time at Philadelphia, without further incident. Later Lockheed and the FAA decided that hard landings could overstress the wing roots. To fix the problem, that area of the wing was strengthened in all the aircraft. In spite of the fix on the wing, it was hard to sell tickets for seats on Electras. About the same time the major airlines decided the 707 was a practical airplane and the Caravelle, DC9 and 727 were built. Propjets were relegated to commuter service, and the days of Viscounts and Electras in main line service came to an end.

Gerry Foley