OK, we are trying to send a package of frozen patient specimens to Cairo. These have been painstakingly collected over several weeks and represent a huge investment of time and effort. FEDEX cannot guarantee overnight or even 2 day delivery. So, the better solution (we think) is to send it on a plane from here to Qatar, where a lab tech picks up the package and freezes it until someone from Cairo flies over, picks it up and flies back. A bit more expensive than FEDEX to send an entire person to go pick up the package, but it guarantees the cold chain which is more important than the actual date the package arrives.
The problem, of course, is that you get what you pay for, and the leg of the trip from Al Asad to Qatar is “free”. The cargo is going space-A, but it is a relatively small box and should fit on any plane—especially any plane capable of flying between here and Qatar. So, two days ago I take the package up to the terminal and fill out the required paperwork. There is a flight in two hours and that is the required lead time. The terminal folks then direct me to take the package over to the flight line, where I fill out the exact same paper work again (I suppose the first time was just practice). I speak at length about the importance of these clinical samples, how they must stay frozen, should stay out of the direct sun; how, if for some strange reason the package doesn’t get on the plane we will need the package back to keep cold until the next flight. Lots of head nodding and “Yes, Sir!” But, to no avail…
When we call after the flight has taken off, we are told the package was not put on the flight—no explanation given—just that it wasn’t put on the flight… But, don’t worry, there is another flight later in the day. Fast forward four hours to the exact same conversation AGAIN!!!! Only now there is no flight until tomorrow.
So, we collect the package and bring it back to the unit’s wonderful -70 freezer for maintenance. The next day, another 1300 fight is scheduled. Dutifully, the package is brought up at 1100 for its 2 hour wait on the flight line. Again, admonitions of the importance of the samples and how they must be frozen—everything is looking good. We are confident! At 1400 we call to make sure the flight left OK. And, lo and behold, it did leave on time—except the package wasn’t on it, again!! No worries, there is another flight at 2130. This time we have someone standing by at the terminal. He looks the flight line guy in the eye and asks, “The package is on that plane right there, the one leaving for Qatar right now?” The answer is, “Yes it is.”
The flight from Al Asad to Qatar is about 2.5 hours (give or take). There is an hour time difference to account for. So, we figure out the arrival time of the package in Qatar and give the flight information to our man in Qatar—who is a female by the way, but “our woman in Qatar” just sounds weird… She will be standing by to pick up the package. We go to bed knowing that things are under control…
You might be shocked to know that I got a phone call at 0230 informing me that our woman in Qatar was standing by, the plane had landed safely, but there was no package on it. Double searched, double checked—no freaking package on board—it was easy to verify because the plane was empty except for one other small package that, miraculously, did make it on board!!!!! Frantic e-mails, frantic phone calls—no package… Out of desperation we call the flight line here at Al Asad and they tell us, “Oh yeah, the package didn’t get on that flight. We will put it on the next one…”
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