Easter Sunday at Lanseria Airport

Easter Sunday was a bit different for me this year. 

I forwent the usual routine of indoor egg hunts and a big family dinner for... well... fire trucks and an airport.

This isn't as random as it may seem.

Didier, unfortunately, was scheduled to work at Lanseria Airport over the holiday weekend. His shifts run 7am-7pm which made any type of Easter celebration rather difficult to organize.

But thankfully, his work allowed guests to visit on Easter Sunday so we spent the day together at the airport. 

It was an early 5:30am wake-up call but the gorgeous sunrise we were treated to on the way (as well as McDs breakfast sandwiches!) made it bearable. 

The fire station sits only meters away from the "apron", where aircraft are parked into the terminal building  

It was neat to be "behind the scenes" at an airport. Lanseria is the smaller of the two airports in Joburg and caters to mostly domestic and private flights. During the World Cup last July, Lanseria was the airport of choice for dignitaries and celebrities. At the time, Didier got to help escort a drunk Paris Hilton onto her plane, as well as witness the security-laden arrival of American Vice President Joe Biden (snipers were positioned atop all the roofs!). 

All day long, aircraft passed right by the station on their way to the runway. It was so cool to see a moving commercial airplane so close up! But day-ummm, they are loud. Oddly enough, the small private planes were far noisier than the larger commercial ones.

After Didier finished parade and morning duties, I was introduced to the rest of the six-man crew. They were all super friendly and welcoming. And then, of course, I headed to check out the fire trucks!  

I really wish my little godson Ryan had been there with me. He would've love it :)

Fox 1, Fox 2, and Fox 6. These are the main response vehicles. 

Yeah. They were preeeeetttyyy large. 

Fox 1 scares the ginger

This mega engine is the largest engine, weighing in at 57 tonnes!! You can see how little Didier looks while standing beside it! Unfortunately, right now it's more of an over sized paperweight as it's being repaired. 

The tires were the size of my whole body!

Fire truck sandwich 

Me strapping on my SBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) and preparing for take-off!

These seats are directly behind the driver and sit outside the cab. 

My favorite part of the day was when Dids took me up to the air-traffic control tower. It's always been an interest of mine to visit one in person! 

One of the ladies there was kind enough to talk me through all their equipment and procedures. It's amazing how these people juggle many things at once. Obviously I knew that going in, but once you see ground zero in person, it takes on a whole new level of respect. 

Not only do they have to keep track of aircraft moving in, out, and through their airspace, but they also have to constantly adapt their plans to account for random things like jackals on the runway, a slow landing by one of the pilots, or emergency landings that mess up their projected order of arrivals.

It's interesting to note that they still use hand-written slides to visually manage the aircraft. The details of each plane they are responsible for is placed on a bar which is then placed on a wooden grid. As it lands or moves, the air traffic controller moves it accordingly in front of him. It's an old-school, yet effective, way to physically translate what is going on in the sky. 

During my visit, the airport was relatively quiet and the weather was good so there wasn't much chaos to speak of. It made me wonder how it would be to visit Toronto's tower on December 23rd during a snow storm! It must get unbelievably intense!! 

Sadly enough, my tour guide told me that they suffer quite a lot of verbal abuse from frustrated and impatient pilots. You'd think they'd be a little more kind to the people in charge of properly co-ordinating their take offs and landing :P

Air traffic control tower at Lanseria

My afternoon was spent relaxing in the lunch room, reading mags, and watching Get Him To The Greek (hilarious movie, btw). 

The only uncomfortable aspect of the day were the sitting arrangements. The 3 black firemen hung out in the downstairs office while the 3 white firemen and I spent our time in the upstairs lounge. Even after we all cooked lunch together, we separated into blacks/whites. I thought it was really silly and a bit of a shame that the guys weren't comfortable eating and hanging out in the same room. 

The classiest part of the station?? Why, that would be the old first-class airplane seats of course! Haha, the guys have been using them as couches! They actually work out well considering they fold backwards for naps and come complete with a convenient snack tray :)

Lap of luxury right there 

To no one's surprise, Didier had been bugging (begging?) me all day to try on some equipment. I kept saying no, hoping he'd let go of the cliche fantasy... but he didn't let up. Sigh. So. Well. I finally caved and kitted up, much to his laughter and amusement. 

These boots where literally twice my size and weighed like 100 pounds each. You should have seen me try to walk. It was a slow grandpa shuffle/drag. 

The pants and jacket were HOT. I was sweating almost immediately. How is this kit supposed to be comfortable while in a FIRE?!

Stephen was kind enough to let me try on his black Ben Franklin helmet. Its weight nearly snapped my head off my neck. 

Didier's suggested caption for this photo: "Drowned rat"

I fit in rather well, doncha think?? 

Stephen, Sidney, Dids, Me, and Big Mike

Angry ranger on the loose!!

(haha -- note how I'm not even holding the axe correctly)

To no one's surprise, we had a big South African braai in the afternoon. I know I should've felt safe surrounded by firemen but I was still feeling weary when they brought out the gas can to start the fire...

Who would've thought my 2011 Easter would have included bbq-ing sausages next to airplanes?? :) 

Caswell and I getting ready to fire up the coals 

... as Stephen creepily supervises from above

You know its a true South African braai when the grill is covered entirely in meat!

Once the sun went down, the boys began their closing duties and I got to meet the night shift men. By the time we packed up and headed to the car, Dids and I dodged about 5 "so when's the wedding??"' comments and one offer from a fireman to be our future wedding pastor/marriage counselor!haha. Nice. 

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter as much as I did! Please share what you got up to -- especially if it is anything as random as an Easter bbq at an airport fire station.