Back in my air ambulance pilot days we would occasionally have to “gown up” when we transported patients with certain contagious diseases or symptoms. It was something that we didn’t like doing - it meant that we had to wear a face mask and go into quarantine upon the completion of the flight. We had to remain in quarantine until hospital staff called us told us otherwise. While we were “out of service” we were supposed to lock the MU-2's door and put up a sign that read: “Warning, Do Not Enter. Quarantined Aircraft.”
One evening, I was called out on a trip where we needed to gown up. We returned back to the airport a couple of hours prior to shift change. Following procedure, I locked the aircraft, placed the sign on the door, and went up to the quarantine area to await the call from the hospital.
The call finally came just before the mechanics showed up for work. I went down to the airplane to remove the sign and unlock the door. I figured that it would be the perfect opportunity for a little “payback” so we simply unlocked the door and placed the quarantine sign face down on the hangar floor and kicked it under the airplane where it couldn’t be readily seen.
When the mechanic showed up to work, he walked out to the airplane and started performing his “daily” mechanic's preflight. We waited until he had entered the airplane then had the hospital dispatcher page him. He was advised that the airplane and pilots were contaminated with some highly contagious deadly virus and that the pilots had been transported to the hospital for emergency treatment. The dispatcher asked him where he was and our illustrious mechanic told him that he was sitting in the airplane. He was then told that he would have to be quarantined and that they were dispatching an ambulance to transport him to the hospital. He was told to stay in the airplane and keep the door closed. The poor guy took it hook line and sinker. A mean thing to do? Perhaps, but like I said, it was a great payback.
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One of the guys I used to work with had flown C-119s in the Air Force back in the 1950's. They would frequently fly those things with the rear doors removed. New guys liked to tie a strap to themselves and go to tthe back of the airplane while they were flying - it must have been quite a view.
What they didn't realize was that with the doors removed the "fluid" from the relief tube would get sucked back into the rear opening. The cockpit crew would take turns peeing into the hose and watching the load masters wipe the "spray" off their glasses and faces.
'Sled