70 AIRLINER WORLD APRIL 2018
AS66 departed and quickly headed for
the first stop at Cordova.
Average airborne time on the first six
of the seven legs is under 30mins and
as such the in-flight service comprises
water, orange juice and sometimes a
light snack. Unfortunately, on the day
of travel the promising clear blue skies
of Anchorage quickly turned into grey
clouds and rain as the aircraft left the
tundra area of Alaska and headed slow-
ly south into the rainforest regions.
Following a short flight and the first
of many meandering approaches,dropping through some extremely
miserable weather and skirting around
hills and mountains, flight AS66
arrived in Cordova. Each stop is
kept as short as possible, but while
passengers can disembark and board
fairly promptly, the loading and
unloading of the igloos is a more time-
consuming affair.
Much consideration must be given to
the weight and balance of the aircraft.
If all the igloos are removed from the
aircraft while the passenger cabin
remains full, the aircraft can easily tip
onto its tail. To prevent this ground
staff can either ‘anchor’ the nose down
(an old and rarely used technique
nowadays) or use a step process, slowly
removing one igloo at a time, while
gradually moving the others
forward, thereby keeping the aircraft’s
centre of gravity from going too far
aft too quickly. This is carried out in
reverse for loading with the first igloo
left behind the cockpit until the second
starts to go through the cargo door andthe edge of its base is already on the
floor. At this point the first container
is pushed aft and locked into place.
The procedure is repeated as each
container is loaded onto the jet.Heading South
Often, all the passengers see at each
stop is a tiny airport terminal, lots of
forest, and the occasional house or two
on the approach. Once passengers
for Cordova had disembarked, a quick
headcount was performed by an airline
agent before the next load of travellers
boarded. With just 72 seats, this
process took only a few minutes.
It was interesting to note that while
this airline service carries a few people
who are connecting onwards, the
majority of passengers appeared to be
locals, many of them trading the
traditional carry-on bag for their trusty
fishing rods. The aircraft’s interior was
extremely tidy, which was
surprising considering how much
work each combi does.Alaska Airlines is the
biggest passenger
operator in the state.
AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/
TIMO BREIDENSTEINBOTTOM RIGHT • On
approach to Ketchikan
at the end of the
21-minute flight from
Wrangell.
Some of the airports
visited on the milk run
feature rudimentary
facilities. This single-
storey building is the
terminal at Petersburg.
BOTTOM • Day two
brought better weather
and stunning views as
flight AS66 climbed out
of Juneau.