Since everyone is talking abt flights, heres one of the close encounters I had.
Before I enlisted early last year, I felt that I had to really let my hair down before I lose it in Tekong. So, I decided to actually go on a trip alone to visit some of my friends who were studying in Perth. Having just quit my part time job, and mum and dad refusing to fund my little expedition, I was tied on a shoe string budget. But I got over that, booked the cheapest flight, packed my bags and left Singapore a few days later.
The flight went well, though it took me a gd 10 hours to reach Perth, (it wasn't SQ, so had to stop over at some place), it would have taken a little over 5 if I has taken the direct flight. Perth was great, seeing my friends, crashing orientations, sleeping in budget hostels, partying the night away in clubs where half it's patrons were asian students. Aside from that, it was relatively boring (Guess, we'll just never be satisfied).
A week flew by, fast, too fast for my liking. There I was sitted on the plane back home, the window seat next to the right wing, not exactly my favourite spot. I greeted the individual sharing the row with me, an Indonesian who lives in Singapore, returning to his second home after sending his son off to study at Curtin. Nice chap, began to converse with him broadly. As the exchange grew into deep banter, the plane took off.
About 10 minutes into flight, the plane was suddenly hit by a huge 'tut', this as it took a quick,sudden drop. Everyone was screaming, from afar, a baby was crying in shock. The man who I just made acquinantance pointed out to the window I was seated next to, what I saw next literally took the air out of me-the right engine was engulfed in flames and we were losing power.
The confusion that greeted the initial impact was now reduced to a deep eeriee silence as everyone began to realize the true intensity of the situation. Everything stood silent, including the crew, there was no announcement, no warning, nothing. It was only after a while that the crew were told to excess the intercom phone which was attached next to their seats. They looked worried, I was worried.
The fire has been put out, but it became apparent to everyone that we have lost the right engine. Being a two engine 767, you do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that we were running on one single engine. The plane was gliding on thin air, delicatly descending from amongst the clouds.
Finally, the pilot's voice crakced through the long silent sound system. Apparently, the right engine had suffered a mechanical failure, we weren't given any specifics. He indicated that we were now faced with an emergency landing at Perth International. Thank God it happended to us just after take off, imagine if it happended in the middle of Indonesia or something. But the thought of an emergency landing conjured up images I watched on the news of planes broken into segments, with rows of seats crashed into a metallic wave. I was just not ready to die, I have everything to live for, my family, my friends, my life.
The plane approached the airport from which we have taken off quite a while ago. Worryingly, it wobbled from side to side like a gigantic mammoth struggling for balance. I closed my eyes, grabbed my seat rests and hoped for the best. All this, while the uncle next to me was taking about how this wasn't his first 'air disaster'. I guess he was just consoling himself as we all do when faced with adversity. As it did begin the incident, a huge 'tut' ended it, as the plane landed on the runway with the Australian sun blazing across the aisle, bringing us much needed warmth. We all knew we were safe at last.
