SCCA Runoffs postscript: Racing is safer than flying for James Wilson

Wilson, who drove his B-Spec Mazda2 from his home in Kyle, Texas,, to compete at the SCCA Runoffs last week in Monterey, had a successful event by all counts. Finishing sixth in class at the country's leading championship for amateur racers was an accomplishment of its own, and by the time his plane touched down in the Lone Star State, battling wheel to wheel in a road race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was the safest part of his weekend.

"We were leaving San Francisco and then you hear the popping and banging going on right in front of you; it was violent and sounded like something was coming in from the outside of the plane into the cabin, and then the interior panels burst in. We were scared to death. It was pretty terrifying," Wilson said of watching the wall of his American Airlines Boeing 757 separate while strapped into his seat.

"Racing is safer than air travel, right? That thought did actually cross my mind."

Rather than turn around and drive his road legal-racecar on an 1800-mile journey home after Monterey, Wilson left his car behind in California as he awaits another event in the Bay Area a few weeks from now. With no option but to fly home, Wilson departed SFO and soon returned when the flight crew – including one of the pilots – inspected the damage and headed back to SFO before the problem escalated.

At a time when American Airlines would be expected to go out of its way to accommodate 184 frightened and stranded passengers, Wilson says things went from bad to worse.

"We're all alive, right, so that's the part that matters, but American has not contacted me at all," he stated. "I had multiple calls to them to get my flights arranged to get home after we were diverted back to SFO, and other than one person, they were not helpful at all on the customer service side. I couldn't even get a hotel voucher from them. I finally got into Dallas at midnight, and then got into Austin later that morning, and because I got the new flight to Dallas, even though it was late, they said they weren't going to put me in a hotel.

"So I told them to book me on the next flight they had to Austin because they weren't going to pay for me to sleep somewhere in Dallas. I wasn't going to get any rest anyways, so I told them to get me out of Dallas and into Austin. They were not helpful at all."

"Oh yeah, I see myself trailering to many more events instead of flying in and flying out for now on," he said with a laugh. "I'm not that worried about things in the racecar, but I'm not fearless, and life goes on."