From Baltic to the Black Sea #16

London, England
14 September 1999

Dear All,

I have reached London at last. I’d thought my adventure ended with the last email, but little did I knew that a mini-drama was to occur on the return flight from Kyiv to Frankfurt (where I transferred to a London flight).

The Lufthansa 2½ hour flight was full, with about a third of the passengers belonging to an Orthodox Jewish group from Israel and USA – wearing dark suits and hats. They were a cheerful lot who seemed to enjoy travelling together. All was well for most of the duration of the flight. However, during the last ½ hour, as the plane had begun descending, one of them got himself drunk and repeatedly ignored the crew’s requests to put on his belt. And when the plane was finally in the process of landing, this chap suddenly stood up, ran across the plane towards the captain/flight cabin.

The crew shouted over the intercom system pleading him to return to his seat immediately – the plane is now tilting at an angle of 30°. He tried to open the cabin door but thank goodness it was locked. The crew had by now reached him and gotten him to sit just outside the cabin. When the plane finally landed, many passengers burst into loud claps. Safety at last. The lady beside me placed her hands close to her heart and made a prayer. The drama was over. I wonder what would have happened if the captain’s cabin wasn’t locked. Would this be the end of my odyssey?

Back to grey, wet London, and to start work tomorrow. I wonder how I can return to the rat race…

For those of you who have sent me emails, please be patient with my replies. I have 700 emails to go through.

regards,

Wee Cheng

http://travel.to/weecheng

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