Salute the British Airways Pilot aboard flight BA 036

 

From airplanes overshooting the runway, (the recent one was at Bali, Indonesia, where the Lion Air flight overshot the runway and landed in the ocean with 100+ passengers), flying closely to each other on the air to landing without clearance from the ATC (the Air India flight at Mumbai) questions the skill, discipline of the pilots and safety in our skies.

With increasing air traffic and human movements it is not a rarity any more to read about air plane accidents. Be it a pilot or a passenger one must be prepared for such incidents and not just be an unprepared optimist. And despite preparedness there are always surprises for prepared passengers, skilled pilots, and family and friends back home.
 

When I boarded the BA 036 flight from Chennai to London on April 12, I murmured a small prayer to Hanuman, the monkey god, for an incident free flight. And whenever we came across turbulence and the seat belts fasten sign came on I repeated the prayer a few times on behalf of my fellow passengers (even those in premier economy and business class), and crew members.

Shrouded in a cloud of mystery

Forty minutes before landing, the captain came on the PA system informed about the descent, weather at destination, Expected time of arrival (eta) and asked us to finish our moving around business within the next 20 mins. The announcement didn't bring me any cheer and the Weather at London wasn't brisk and bright. It was overcast, breezy and 10 deg c. And for a transiting passenger, getting the connection flight and catching up on sleep was higher up in the priority list compared to local weather.

I looked out of the window to survey the city its traffic, planning and green cover but the thick cloud cover created a mysterious impression of London. May be the sky was mourning the passing away of Britain's former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher? To kill time, I turned on the in-flight map service and kept tracking the movement, altitude, temperature and adjusting to the change in pressure and clearing up the air blocks my ears.

And 20 mins before landing, the seats belt sign came back on and the cabin crew came around to ensure all window shades were up, seats were upright, seat belts fastened and all bags and belongings stored in the over head bin. May be the ATC (air traffic controller) gave us the clearance to land?

Rumble in the belly

The flight was making a fast and steady descent and I confirmed that when heard a rumble from the belly of the aircraft, the tires opened up for landing, and the cloud cover was still keeping London shrouded in mystery (like the Queen who wears gloves and is afraid to revel her beauty or imperfections). And finally the nose of the aircraft was ready to touch down and I could see buildings and air bridges outside my window. But before we realized the engines roared once again loudly, the cloudy scene returned outside the window and the aircraft made an emergency take off. Just when everybody including the pilots and my friend tracking the flight was traveling on, the aircraft soared up the sky again. Not sure how many of my fellow passengers realized that before the pilot announced the lack of clearance from ATC. I asked myself if it was another violation trying to land without the ATC clearance or was something skillfully averted.

We circled the cloudy skies of London for another 10 mins before we finally touched down. As we taxied on the runway, one of the pilots came on the PA system and shared the reason behind abandoning our earlier landing. He said they were trained and prepared for eventualities and this is second nature to them. What was behind the roaring engines and another aerial tour of the mysterious London and second nature to the pilots?

5m from meeting our fate

The aircraft was hardly 5 m from the ground and The ATC noticed a puddle aviation fuel on the runway dumped by the earlier aircraft. They immediately asked the pilots of to get back on air. Once he shared the incident I expected the passengers to give the pilots a standing ovation, but the aircraft turned noisy and conversations laced with both surprise and relief. Without wasting time, I took a piece of paper and wrote a thank you message for the pilots and the guys at the ATC tower. If the ATC staff had not averted and if the pilots lacked skill we could have skidded off the runway or our aircraft could have caught fire from the dumped aviation fuel on the runway. Thanks Hanuman!

 

While media reports and sensationalizes mishap stories, I felt this was an opportunity to celebrate and applaud their skills and also continue say your prayers next time you board the aircraft. Some last minute prayers and split second decisions tests skills of some pilots and extend our fate lines. And that morning 200 of us were 5m away from igniting our fate.