2 Sunsets in one day

One of the coolest things happened the other day on a flight to Victoria. I'll get to that in a second.

The day started off (Friday) with me sleeping in and getting a phone call from the other pilot at the hotel in Edmonton. My alarm had gone off, I had awaken, even started to reply to an email and then... I nodded off. First time since I've started at AirSprint!! The hotel was very close to the airport but it was -25 with windchill and we had arranged for a ride to the airport. The phone call came at the exact time we were to have our ride. So, I was screwed. I told the other pilot that I'd brave the cold and run to the airport, but he managed to get our ride to come back for me 10 mins later. So I got to the plane at 7:15am for our 8am flight. Generally we need to arrive 1hr before the flight to give us enough time to get everything ready and then be ready for our clients 30 mins prior to departure. So I was hustling around and just made it as our clients arrived bang on 30 mins early. It all worked out well and we were off to a much warmer destination, Scottsdale AZ.

Too bad we didn't get to stay. We were then off to Victoria to do a pickup to take back to Calgary. BUT, that didn't quite happen. Climbing through about 36,000' we got a "master caution" warning, which is a big flashing amber light right in front of our eyes that says there is something wrong that needs attention. My eyes then scan to the announciator panel which will then tell me what is wrong. The illuminated item is "FIRE BOTL EXT LOW". Which stands for "Fire Bottle Extinguisher Low". Alright, now to the checklist to figure out what attention this item requires. The checklist goes on to tell us that 1 or both of our engine fire suppresion bottles is either low or has extinguished. The engine fire extinguishers are designed to put our engine fires by pumping various fire extinguishing gases right into the engine. Well, we know that they didn't go off because both our engines were still running fine. This is also an item that if we land, we are not allowed to take off again without having the problem resolved.

So, the other pilot went into the back of the plane and got on the flight phone and called our maintenance department back in Calgary. If we went to Victoria and landed, we wouldn't be able to leave again without having someone fix the problem. So, after a few minutes on the phone the decision was made to turn towards Calgary and have the problem looked at, and then as soon as it was fixed, fly to Victoria a little bit late for the pickup and bring the folks back to Calgary.

So over Las Vegas we made a pretty good right turn and headed northbound. It's tricky around that area because there is lots of restricted airspace we can't fly through. You may also know of this area as "Area 51" :)

So it was a bigger than normal turn to get back on course. But it had to be done. Here's a screenshot I took from a flight tracking program after we landed. I highlighted area 51 and the routing we were supposed to have taken to Victoria. As you can see it was quite the turn to get back on course.



Everything worked out well, we spent about an hour on the ground in Calgary while the mechanics opened up the back of the airplane to look at the fire bottles, and they were both fine. So it was just an indication problem and we blasted off for Victoria, and that is when it happened, one of the coolest things I've seen while flying.

I watched the sunset twice! Just as we took off the sun had set in Calgary and we got airborne and were headed west bound for Victoria. At about 30,000 ft the sun rose again over the horizon and minutes later I watched it set again. Phenominal! That is one memory that will stick with me for a long time and helps to remind me that I love my job and can still see something new and exciting day to day.