June 5, 2025 - We all have many “firsts” in our lives – first kiss, first love, and first pet, all of which are memorable. I would have to add to that list my first airplane ride which occurred in 1959 in Texas, and it was a memorable event to say the least.
Having been married for a year and unable to find a good job because of being classified 1-A in the government’s draft system, I was elated to receive an invitation from the Smith-Carona-Marchant Calculator Company to visit their office in Dallas, Texas for a job interview. The prospective employer was about to make a hiring decision and requested that I visit them as soon as possible. I made the decision that flying to Dallas from the nearby city of Lufkin would be the fastest way to make the two hundred mile trip.
At that time in history, there was only one airline that flew out of the small Lufkin airport which was TTA, or Trans-Texas Airlines. They were affectionately also known as “Tree Top Airlines” here in East Texas. They eventually changed their company name to Texas Air Corp. in 1982, still doing business under the Continental Airlines name and colors today.
My wife accompanied me to the Lufkin airport early the next morning, about forty-five miles from our home. She was going to drop me off at the airport and drive back to her job. As we drove up to the terminal I noted the airplane parked and waiting for passengers. It was a twin engine DC3 which looked pretty small to me, but I was a novice flyer so who was I to judge?
After boarding the airplane I had to walk “downhill” to find my seat. I had just buckled my seat belt and relaxed a bit getting ready for takeoff. Then I felt a bulge in my right pant pocket. I pulled it out and almost panicked when I saw that this bulge was my key ring with the keys to our car and house. Without the car keys my wife would be stranded at the airport. I had to do something and do it quickly!
I looked up to see a stewardess walking by, and I got her attention. “Can I help you, sir?” she asked sweetly. “I sure hope so. I have the only keys to my car”, dangling them in her face, “and my wife won’t be able to leave. I need to get them to her. What can I do?” She seemed unfazed about my dire predicament. “Give me those keys,” she demanded. So I obeyed and handed them to her. She walked rapidly uphill to the cockpit, opened the door and entered.
The airplane had been slowly moving toward the main runway and was about to take off. What could she do now? Suddenly, the plane stopped moving for a minute or so, and then proceeded again to the runway. What had happened to my keys?
Just before takeoff I noted a baggage handler running out to the runway we had just left, bending down and picking up something, then rushing back to the terminal. In the terminal people were asking why the plane had stopped and why the airline employee had run out on the runway. Someone was heard to comment, “Oh, some idiot left with his car keys. The pilot dropped them out his window and the baggage employee picked them up.”
My wife had to identify herself as the “idiot’s” wife, and was given the keys. She left as fast as she could. Although embarrassed, she was thankful to the helpful employees for solving the insolvable problem.
I should have gotten the name of that fast-thinking stewardess so I could have written a letter of appreciation to her company, but by now I was worried about something else. Sitting above the left wing, I watched oil as it leaked out of the motor and ran down the wing. Was there a serious problem with the engine? Was airplane engine oil flammable? What if it all leaked out and the motor conked out? Can we fly with only one engine? I was nervous about putting my full weight down in the seat.
Obviously, the plane did not crash, and I made the trip without any further incidents. And, no, I did not get the job. I would still like to thank that TTA stewardess, if only I had gotten her name. Maybe she will read this little story and come forward, you think?
