@kaiamadd: Things I didn’t have time to explain: the delay was about 1.5 hours if I remember right, and we did end up departing safely with no issues and arrived in Chicago. Basically the ramp will close down at any airport for the safety of the ramp crew to not get struck by lightning if there is a lightning strike within 5 miles of the airfield. They start a 10 minute timer, and that timer resets every time there’s a lightning strike within 5 miles. If there is no lightning for 10 minutes, they can come back outside. We were not able to start engines or push back from the gate until they can come outside to help us, which is what caused the delay. (Different airports might have different distance/time rules for this so don’t quote me on that as a universal rule). Delays caused by thunderstorms is way more common than people think in the summertime. With no APU (mini engine that gives us air conditioning without engines running) it’s too uncomfortable to keep passengers onboard for any long amount of time, so the captain made a great call to deplane. I learned a lot today and will take a lot of this into my future decision making for sure🫡 #womeninaviation #femalepilot #airlinepilot #pilotlife #womeninmalefields (No passengers on board, boarding door open, engines off in all my videos.)

kaia

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Saturday 27 June 2026 14:42:39 GMT