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excerpts from bob's journal...

We boarded our plane in St Lucia, and Lori allowed me to take the window seat. We were sitting on the right side of the plane, a few rows in back of the wing. It was a gloomy day, similar to the one which we arrived on. We taxied out to the west end of the runway, made the turn, and went full speed ahead. I never enjoy take offs or landings, I'm guessing that these are the times when the airplane is under the most stress. I'm always thinking that something's gonna give just as we leave the ground or make our landing.

We eventually accelerated to the point of lift off. Almost immediately after leaving the ground I saw a large explosion from the engine. Flames shot back in a big ball, and the plane shook. Then the flames were gone. We were still climbing, and nobody said a thing. WTF?

I turned to Lori and told her what I had seen. I was more than a little worried.

We continued to climb, with no deviation in our path. Surly the captain must be aware that something went wrong on takeoff. Surly somebody else must have seen what I did. Silence...

About three or four minutes later the captain made an announcement. Cool and calm... "Hello ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking..." "For those of you on the right side of the plane, you may have noticed a small fire coming from the wing. We had a bird strike on take off. Everything appears to be fine. All the instruments are reading normal, so we will continue on to Montego Bay, Jamaica. We will climb to an altitude of..."

Even after this announcement I didn't really relax until after we landed in Jamaica. After we exited the plane, I stopped to take a couple of pictures of the plane. There was a man up inside the engine inspecting it for damage. I have no idea what the outcome was, but I was happy to be on the ground.