A Night Flight

I am a pilot and I am working with domestic airlines. Even now with a considerable number of flying hours to my credit, I enjoy the thrill of being in the cockpit, the excitement of going so fast through the air. Driving a car or a scooter gives me a sense of power; piloting a plane surpasses that joy. It happened that I was on night duty three nights a week and had to do short hops. But one night one of these very short hops gave me the scare of my life. I dare say it has done me a lot of good and given me some valuable experience, but it also gave me a terrible fright.

It happened to be a dark night and thick dark clouds jostled with each other like impatient little children squabbling over a prize. It had been raining for a few days, though for the time being there was a lull, and cyclonic pressures were building up in the area. The fishing trawlers had already been warned to be careful of the unruly seas. The sky was equally unruly and I had to steer myself back on the course many a time. As visibility was poor I had to depend rather heavily on the compass. I had begun with a great deal of confidence and with the feeling that I was up to the challenge but now with the responsibility of so many lives in my hands, I began to feel a little apprehensive about my own abilities. I was not alone and that was a saving grace. The co-pilot was with me, the whole crew was there and there were passengers. But how I wished that I was alone and not answerable to anyone else.

The flight became bumpier and bumpier and I felt the compression was not adequate. What a time for an engine failure! I looked at the compass and then looked at my watch. We had not yet completed even one-third of the distance. I broke out in a sweat. The fear of uncertainty gripped my heart. I calmed myself and tried again to see whether we could manage to complete the journey. Perhaps I was worrying prematurely.

By this time some of the passengers had awakened. I could hear the soft voices of people. This was possible for them mainly because of their trust in me. I had to take a quick decision. I peered down and could hardly see anything. Then treetops were seen. I became hopeful. I can remember myself talking confidently and assuredly to others. I heard my voice telling my crew that I was going to land and there was no need for any concern at all. It was not me. but my voice of responsibility that was speaking.

My co-pilot was not my usual partner. Teck Soon had fallen ill and his place had been taken by Sudakhar who was inexperienced but he was calmer than I was and he told me that we were over a comparatively flat piece of ground. We started flying lower and soon we were just a few feet above the ground. The plane brushed against the tree-tops and then we landed. Luckily our wireless communications had been working. We were thus in touch with the nearest airport though we were off our main route by now.

We landed and I silently thanked God for having helped us. We had to wait for about an hour when an airline bus drove in to collect all the passengers and brought the engineers to help repair the craft. We were indeed lucky to have got off so lightly in this brush with disaster.