Dutch Women Softball Team

2011

USA Tour

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Dutch Team returns home safely

Nederlandse tekst

CLEARWATER / TAMPA, Florida / ATLANTA, Georgia / MEMPHIS, Tennessee (USA) / AMSTERDAM (Netherlands) - The Dutch National Softball Team returned home safely on Tuesday-morning, March 15, when their Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-200 landed on Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport at 10:46 AM (Dutch time, 5:46 AM Florida-time), well ahead of schedule. On Monday, March 14, the Team started its journey in Clearwater and from there it went to Tampa and Memphis en route to Amsterdam.

The travel pattern might sound somewhat odd, as the team didn't travel eastbound initially (as might be expected), but westbound. Instead of flying towards the east, the team first traveled to the west and also into another time zone to Memphis (Tennessee) and from there started the flight east towards Amsterdam. When coming to the States two weeks ago, the team flew to Atlanta (Georgia), which appears to make more sense when traveling to Florida.

Monday-morning started with breakfast in the hotel in Clearwater. Hereafter, the team had three hours off. As there was nothing special scheduled in this period, the hours could be used to pack final things, take some extra sleep, do some additional shopping or simply rest near the pool of the hotel. After lunch, it was time to check out of the hotel and then, around 3 PM (8 PM Dutch time), it was off to the airport in Tampa.

The Delta Air Lines Airbus A320 carrying the team departed from Tampa International Airport in Florida at 5:33 PM (local, 10:33 PM Dutch time, 5 hours difference) for the first leg of their journey to Memphis (Tennessee). While approaching Memphis International Airport, the plane experienced heavy turbulence, as there were thunderstorms in the area (as was forecasted), but it also was foggy. Despite these conditions and the always uncomfortable feeling of turbulence, the plane had to wait only 10 minutes before it was cleared to land, which it did safely at 6:34 PM (local, 00:34 AM Dutch time, 6 hours difference), which was labeled as on-time. After having flown at an altitude of 34.000 feet (10.363 km) and traveling with a speed of 497 mph (800 kph), the official flight time (runway to runway) was two hours and one minute in which the plane traveled 662 miles (1066 km). As mentioned, it was foggy in Memphis and the temperature was 50 degrees (10 Celsius).

In Memphis, the team switched planes for the flight to Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport. In the second part of the journey, the team flew in an Airbus A330-200 of Delta Air Lines. After arriving in Memphis, the weather improved, but remained cloudy with a temperature of 46 degrees (7 Celsius) and there were no further delays. After a gate adjustment, the plane left the gate at 8:20 PM (local; 2:20 AM Dutch time), then took off at 8:38 (2:38) for the flight to Amsterdam. The plane arrived well ahead of schedule in the Dutch capital, touching down at 10:46 AM and arriving at the gate at 10:55 AM to complete the 8 hours 35 minutes flight, which initially was scheduled to arrive on 11:20 AM.

Also on Monday, player Anne Blaauwgeers took off from Tampa in an AirTran Airways Boeing-737 at 5:02 PM (local, 10:02 Dutch time) for her flight to Atlanta, where she arrived at 6:11 PM (local, 11:11 PM Dutch time) on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In the one hour and nine minutes it took to span the distance from Tampa to Atlanta, Anne's plane traveled 408 miles (657 km). In Atlanta, it was partly cloudy and 73 degrees (22 Celsius). From Atlanta, Anne continued her journey back to Arizona to resume her study and softball-season at Central Arizona College.