We flew on a Boeing 747. This plane was really big.

All of the adults on board were given free champagne to celebrate Captain Ankeny's final flight.

When we landed at LAX the Los Angeles Fire Department had large crash trucks spraying a huge archway of water, all lit up, for the plane to taxi under.

The Ankeny family flew with us and his daughter Allison was a flight attendant.

His wife Trish and daughter Heather greeted everyone on board and helped serve the champagne.

The Captain's friends were waiting for him at the terminal.

I think he had to wait for his champagne.

The fact that my dad's retirement flight was exactly one week prior to the
September tragedy STILL gives us all chills. We feel so lucky to have had the
experience we did.

He often talks about the many pilots that probably never experienced their
final flight due to airport closures, layoffs, opting for early retirement,
etc. We did so much that will never again be experienced by a pilot. Never
will a Captain be able to leave the cockpit and shake hands with every
passenger on his flight. Never will his family be able to serve drinks to an
entire plane. Never will his friends and family be able to wait for him at
the gate and greet him as he walks off the jetway. His two brothers actually
got on the plane and took pictures with him in the cockpit. He had been
flying for 32 years and had never been able to show his them his "office." He
was so excited and proud, and again, that will not be a possibility for
anyone else. And you know that neat archway the Firemen did? Yup. Never
again. I mean, they had my dad land on a totally different runway just so
they could do that for him. It is so sad that these terrible people took away
such wonderful small pleasures.

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