Plane vs. Fleet Car

(The Plane Wins)

While serving as a County fleet manager, one reader received a call from the Public Works Department.

The caller wanted to report an accident and began the conversation by stating one of the department's truck operators had just hit an airplane. The fleet manager could not fathom how a truck could hit an airplane or what circumstances could even make that a possibility. He personally responded to the tarmac at the airport to see the wing of a large jet passenger plane sticking right through the windshield of a Public Works utility truck.

As it turned out, two employees were performing routine maintenance on the tarmac by spraying weeds that crop up through cracks in the asphalt. The passenger jet was sitting in a large circle (painted on the ground) warming up and preparing for takeoff.

Both the truck driver and the so-called observer (passenger) were to spray areas outside the painted areas that protected the planes. Obviously, they must have been working so hard they couldn't see the huge jet sitting inside the painted circle!

The incident initiated a full-blown Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation and resulted in more than $100,000 in damage to the private plane.

No 'Dave' Here

Several years ago, a fleet manager was driving home and his cell phone rang. He answered the call and a woman inquired if Dave was there.
The fleet manager told the caller he was driving home, that she had reached his cell phone, and that Dave was not there.

The caller then asked, "Can you check?" The fleet manager shouted out "Hey, Dave," and received no response. He again informed her that Dave was not there.