I trained in Kansas City, MO., in May of 69...ah, what a year that was! My international training continued in June in NYC until I began flying all over Europe, on reserve out of JFK in late June.  My first flight was to Athens, Greece.  I sat in the cockpit for the landing, such was the initiation of a first flight as a TWA FA.  I couldn't believe the colors of the ocean, seeing clear through to the bottom, coming into the airport in this historic city.

These silly photos represent a young man I dated during my 10 week training in Kansas City, followed by shenanigans with my West Point cadet friends and boy toys from my recent college days, who got a big kick out of hanging out with the "Stews" from Queens and puttin' on our wigs, over shaved heads and chillin' on their weekend leave.

I'm the blonde chick in the above pics with fellow "stews."  Four of us lived in a brand new high rise apartment building in Forest Hills, completely new and furnished, residence to the many newbies with TWA back in the day.  Since all of our schedules varied, you never knew what you were coming home to or who would be sleeping in your bed!  Party's in full swing were the order of the day. 

It was a pretty crazy life for a young FA, fresh out of Catholic college up on the Hudson River next to West Point and was about to get even more crazy, traveling the world, working the heavenly skys, meeting a myriad of travelers heading to many destinations for all sorts of reasons, from business to pleasure, families vacationing in far away lands, honeymooners, lonely men seeking companionship, female crew members looking for something in me I had never dared consider with no inclination for a new life style in the air!  Yikes!  Was I ever getting an education beyond the safe walls of Ladycliff College (all women's Catholic College). What was I thinking?!?

And then there were the celebrity passengers in first Class.  Briefly, I will share that I took care of the Mario Andretti family back in 1970 on a trip to France, on board a brand new 747 Jumbo Jet.  Footnote:  I was in the first graduating class to train on the 747 and it was a big deal.  It is still my favorite airplane.  And one of the safest in the air.  The Andretti's were a young, delightful family and they had most of the upper lounge, upstairs in First Class where I fed them and covered their children with blankets and tended to their flight needs till landing.

Then there was Telly Sevalis, flying in the front cabin, of course, where I was working and struck up a lovely conversation with him for most of the flight over to Milan, whereupon, he asked me to escort him over to the Al Italia counter where he needed his connecting info for his continuation to Yugoslavia, where he was filming foreign war movies in those days...long before Kojack.  We were both unmarried, so no raised eye brows here!  He had time for lunch and charmed me into missing my crew bus to the hotel and staying with him through lunch, till his flight departed.  We clicked, you could say and he asked me if I would like to spend the weekend with him in Yugoslavia and watch him film.  Wow, did my heart race all over the place, knowing that there was no way I could get out of working my scheduled fight back to New York the next afternoon.  So, with bashful resignation, I said no to one of the most charming men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and spending a smooth, dark flight across the ocean with, in my young girlie life.

There was the world famous race horse named, "Irish Minstral," who's charming Irish country gentleman owner, wooed me on the flight and lured me to his room in broad day light to have lunch with him in Paris and engage in some afternoon delight.  NOT SO FAST!  The moment I realized his intent, my mood shifted as did his when he realized I wasn't as "sophisticated" as he hoped and the horse's ass actually stopped the cab we were taking after lunch and had the driver drop me off in the middle of the Champs d'Elese to fend for myself and figure out how to get back to my hotel.  After a few moments of shock and displaced relief, I headed down this magificant boulevard and took in the sights, did a little shopping and got a Latte at a wonderful French cafe, licking both the foam off the wide rimmed cup and my wounds of embarrassment and humiliation over my lack of wisdom and judgment over the renowned Irish man I earlier thought was a gentleman...not so much.  Lessons learned.

There was Elkie Summers, the 6 ' tall sultry actress of the 60's on board one of my flights, Jean Simmons, then in her 80's and still beautiful as ever...There were the 3 cameramen from Beverly Hills who asked me to join them for dinner and a night of gambling at the London Playboy Club...oh was that a whirlwind of a fun night and the people watching was more than I had ever seen or could have imagined, having lived a pretty sheltered existence before my TWA job!  I couldn't stop staring at the Playboy bunnie's costumes and how they were built for any size breasts, large or small, to look so "over the top" and perky to beat the band!  Oh my, why were these guys interested in me!?!  Actually, they were perfect gentlemen and as was their boyish tradition, they took this trip every year, brought along $10,000 just to gamble and have fun, win or loose.  It was a guy's trip and fun was the only thing on the menu while they treated my like a princess.  I was as lucky as I was naive.  They even gave me a few thousand $$$$ to play with for them.  What an amazing experience.

Briefly, I will tell you about the near fatalities, the flights that can turn your hair gray over night and the luck in life to have dodged a few bullets. As this was the era of hijackings, one of my roommates had the misfortune of being on one of the high profile hostage hijackings where all the passengers were held for 4 days during negotiations with the goverment to release foreign war criminals.  When she was finally released, she quit flying and went home to Wyoming.  Also during the early 70's, you may recall a terrible epidemic of Asian flu that ravaged this country and many people were out sick for long periods of time.  This affected the airlines as well and TWA had a couple thousand employees out sick at one time and they had to pull hundreds of international flight attendants, myself included, off our shedules and fly domestic for a week.  This was bizarre as we were not trained for domestic air crafts nor the domestic food service and the differences in both the safety features of the planes and the gallies for preparing the food.  Well, we had to learn fast, as they put us on domestic routes faster than we could react.

I was on a flight out of Denver, shortly after take off, when there was a loud explosive sound coming from the back of the plane where all the engines were housed on this Conair  that was as old as Moses.  The pilot sounded the "3 bells," which told the crew we were in an emergency.  We were all still in our seats having just taken off and I remember scanning the faces of the passengers in the back of the plane, close to the engine compartment and then seeing the white smoke billowing out alongside of the plane outside their windows.  Some gasps and murmurings could be heard and they all just fixated on our faces and on the smoke.  The captain came over the loud speaker and calmly told us that we had a problem with our "2 essential," (engine) and that we would need to dump fuel over the Rockies before returning to the Denver airport for an emergency landing.  He prepared all of us, including crew, to stay in our seats, instructing us to put our heads down in our laps for a possible rough landing, with foamed runway, possibilty of fire upon landing, departing by way of the shutes...the whole enchilada.  It was very numbing most of all. 

We landed without incident and had a debriefing with the cockpit crew and all the mechanics who opened up the engine compartment in the aft of the plane and exposed the damage and burned out engine.  The captain turned sheet while as he realized how close this was to blowing up the plane in mid air.  We all counted our blessings and sat quietly together that night and recounted all that had happened in such a short period of time.  A time that could have changed our lives in an instant.  We were "stuck" there for a few days, waiting for a new engine and to repair and fly the SAME PLANE back to Chicago!  That was crazy! But I am here to tell you that crazier things can happen in the friendly skys. 

Like the "exposers."  Yes, we have them and they are promptly scolded by the captain and in some cases, will necessitate landing at the nearest airport and deplaning the offending passenger, then escorted off to jail. The same can happen with a drunk passenger if things get out of hand, which they often do on charter flights where all the alcohol is included and the plane is one big frat house across the pond.  You know there are so many stories to tell but I may already be putting most of you to sleep.

There were pregnant women in labor, a few men having heart attacks, all causing immediate flight changes and quick landings near major city hospitals.  There was weather so rough that rapid decompression was experienced where the plane would drop 10,000 feet in an instant, taking your breath away and leaving your stomach on the ceiling.  Quite a thrill ride and was also experienced during part of our international training. 

Kids, there are so many more stories in my memory bank of those days that I could share, but you get the idea.  I could write the sequel to the famous book, I dare say, though the original authors would not approve of my poaching in on their hay day and tales of their naughty nights in the air.

 I leave you with one last thought:  I never joined the "Mile High Club."

And the achronym for TWA was affectionately called, "Try Walking Across."

I loved my days flying all over the world and wouldn't change a thing about it.  The people and places have helped to shape and broaden my scope of the world and has brought me to far away lands I never would have traveled to had it not been for this wonderful and exciting occupation.  It's a juicy piece of my personal history and one that I have relished sharing with my OS family.

"The captain has turned off the seat belt sign.  You are free to move about the cabin."