Cochabamba on a 707 freighter with a 24-hour layover
I had just returned from the Dominican Republic, where I had unsuccessfully applied for a 727 pilot job, and was sitting in a Miami hotel weighing my options. I called a friend in the aviation business who told me that a Bolivian airline needed a 707 co-pilot immediately and he suggested that he call their Miami office without delay.
Maria answered the phone and asked if I was qualified on the 707 with an FAA license. I answered yes and that I had an FAA airline transport pilot license but no 707 type rating. He didn’t ask any questions about recent experience on the plane, but told me to be at the airport at 5:30 pm. , where I would meet the captain and flight engineer at the National Airlines gate for Houston. She added that a ticket would be waiting for me. She explained that we would spend the night at the Holiday Inn at the airport and early the next morning we would fly on the 707 freighter to Bolivia via Panama.
The captain, though not in uniform, was easily identifiable by his black handlebar mustache. An hour and a half later we arrived in Houston, checked into the Holiday Inn, then went into the bar for a few rounds of beer. Not a good idea as we had a 4:00 am wake up call with a planned pre-dawn departure.
The following morning, the flight engineer conducted a preliminary test of the aircraft in the dark, then returned to the cockpit to set his panel for engine start. The aircraft had been refueled the night before. The 4 engines started and the captain taxied the aircraft to the active runway. The Houston airport was shrouded in fog and we could barely meet the minimum visibility requirement for takeoff. Two minutes later we were climbing through the low strata into a clear night sky. After retracting gear and flaps, we turned left over the Gulf of Mexico and headed for Cozumel, just off the Yucatan Peninsula, climbing to our initial flight level of 290 (29,000 feet).
As we leveled off the sun came up and I got that sinking feeling you get after an all night flight or not getting enough sleep. The flight engineer returned to the galley to prepare much-needed coffee and heat up the crew’s meals. In Cozumel we reported our position and were authorized directly to Panama. We flew over the northeastern tip of Honduras and Nicuragua, and crossing San José, we requested the descent. During the last stages of the descent while maneuvering for an approach to runway 03R in Panama, we had a spectacular view of the Panama Canal that connects the Atlantic Ocean through the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Forty-eight miles long, it has been described as one of the seven wonders of the world.
In Panama we refueled and loaded some additional containers. The aircraft was close to its maximum gross takeoff weight for the prevailing conditions. A flight plan to Santa Cruz, Bolivia was submitted with an estimated route time of 4 hours and 35 minutes. During that time we would fly over Colombia, eastern Peru and the northwestern corner of Brazil.
It was a long takeoff run given the high gross takeoff weight and a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius. Runway 03R was 10,000 feet long and we used most of it for takeoff. With landing gear raised and flaps retracted, we banked into a right climbing turn over the Pacific Ocean toward the Columbia coast.
At FL290 the aircraft was in level flight crossing the Colombian coast southwest of Medellín. We continue flying through western Colombia to the Peruvian border at the point where it meets Ecuador. Above Iquitos, which is situated on the upper reaches of the Amazon River, we had burned enough fuel and were light enough to request a level change to 330.
From Iquitos we continue through the northwest corner of Brazil to the Bolivian border at Rio Branco. Flying over Bolivia, we requested permission to land in Trinidad, about 120 nautical miles north of Santa Cruz. Twenty minutes later we turned around to land on runway 34, which was 11,480 feet long and could accommodate 747.
The terrain in Bolivia is a bit unusual. The Santa Cruz airport, which is located in the east of the country, near the Paraguayan border, sits at 1,300 feet AMSL (above mean sea level). The Cochabamba airport in central Bolivia is 8,400 feet above sea level, while the La Paz airport, which is located in the west near the border with Peru, is 13,200 feet above sea level. from the sea and is the highest international airport in the world.
In Santa Cruz we boarded a passenger flight 727 to Cochabamba. Upon arrival, as I was crossing the ramp, I felt short of breath and had to consciously slow my breathing rate to avoid hyperventilation. I experienced similar symptoms when I first went to work in Yemen, which was at 7,200 feet AMSL.
We walked to the airline’s operations office to find out. Since they considered me hired occasionally, they took me to the accounting department where they gave me a handful of Bolivian pesos for the day’s work. The inflation rate was very high but had not reached the hyperinflation that would come a few years later, when hypothetically the price of a meal could change before ordering dessert.
They took me to a guest house to rest a bit. At night someone came and invited me to dinner. After dinner we went to a disco which was the last place I wanted to go. I could feel myself faltering from the fatigue, the beer, and the altitude. Sitting quietly in a dark corner of the club, he hoped to avoid any physical activity. Suddenly, an attractive and well-built young woman appeared. She said something in Spanish that I didn’t understand, then she pulled me to my feet and dragged me onto the dance floor. The rhythm was upbeat in the Latin American style. I must confess that 15 minutes of this almost finished me. I smiled at the girl and said “thank you” and then headed for the door out of breath and on the verge of hyperventilation.
I didn’t go back inside, but found my way to the guest house, collapsed on the bed, and slept for 10 hours. The next day they took me to a barbecue in a garden overlooking the mountains that surround Cochabamba. There I ate the best steak I have ever eaten with salad and Bolivian potatoes. Dessert was some kind of exotic ice cream with fresh fruit salad and whipped cream. The trip to South America would have been worth it for that meal alone.
Late in the afternoon the airline put me on the general statement as a flight attendant on a 727 passenger flight from Santa Cruz to Miami via Panama. From there I would make my own way back to Chiang Mai, where I lived.
I was glad the airline didn’t offer me a contract because it would have involved flying to La Paz on a regular basis. I had a bit of a hard time adjusting to 8,400 feet in Cochabamba. I doubt it would have coped very well with layovers in La Paz at 13,200 feet. One of the American pilots who flew there regularly said he kept a portable oxygen bottle by his bed at night. Outside his window, the children played soccer.
The opportunity to work on my trip to South America, fly over the Amazon jungles and briefly experience Bolivian culture, came from being in the right place at the right time – a rare stroke of good luck!