Meeting Desmond Tutu

I loved flying a Westwind jet. It added so many dimensions to my world of flying – high altitude, longer distances in shorter times, Guyana in South America, and high-density airports in the U.S. This job was the ultimate in cross-country flying. One day I would be landing the C-402 on a dirt runway on an island, and the next day I would be in my winter clothes, making a fuel stop up north in the states. The jet was also the pick for special dignitary visits, and I was fortunate enough to be part of the crew to fly Archbishop Desmond Tutu from San Juan to St. Thomas. I have a good story about how I came to have my picture taken with the Archbishop.

On any charter we would stay pretty busy with our duties, but on this one the captain and I both kept carrying our cameras around in hopes of getting some good shots. But, when we got to STT, there was such a great procession of important people, that neither one of us could get that special moment on camera. It seemed our chances were gone, when Tutu was ushered into the back of a limousine. We were just sighing in disappointment, when the back door of the limo opened, and Tutu got out. People started scurry-ing around to find out what was the matter, and he said, “I believe the pilots wanted their pictures taken with me.” So, that’s how we came to be arm in arm with this wonderful man.
-Cher Hanssen, woman pilot interviewed for the book Flying Above the Glass Ceiling

Almost ate a glider

So there we were in the Cardinal talking to center on our IFR flight plan in VFR weather and we about 5 miles off the departure end of the westbound runway at SWF. Center called and said "numerous targets ahead... we think they may be gliders as there is a school there." Geeezz... heads up, glaring out the window. We spotted a gaggle of them below us circling Orange County (NY) airport and thought we were in the clear. I was flying from the right seat and just happened to look towards Steve (the other pilot and owner) and holy *!xx there was a big yellow towplane with a glider behind him that looked like it took up the whole side window. I yanked the plane in a right dive and held my breath. He must of taken a left turn or didn't even see us. We called center and they said they either didn't have a transponder or didn't have it on and he couldn't see them. After that we got off the airway and gave the airport a large berth. We also took deep breathes to calm our heart rates down. Moral of the story... don't trust center to keep you from a midair when you are on an IFR flight plan in VFR.
-Nina Anderson and Steve Meyerowitz

Attempted hijacking

Excerpt from my story in the book, Flying Above the Glass Ceiling:The Twin Otter had cockpit doors that exited to the outside so we didn’t have to go through the passenger cabin. This was an easy out of the airplane as one crew discovered. Hijacking was in full swing and some dude decided to hijack the Twin Otter at Kennedy … where he thought he could go with an airplane with a few hours range and an airspeed that race cars exceed, I don’t know. The crew convinced him they had to close the door between the cabin and the cockpit to taxi, and then just bailed out the front doors leaving the guy sitting in the airplane waiting for the gun-wielding airport police. Anyway, those doors leaked so I spent a good bit of the winter at ANE wearing my ski pants to fly as the cockpit always filled with snow while airborne.