The experience of a near air mishap captured by Franklin Ihejirika, our aviation correspondent, Lagos
It was really an apprehensive and turbulent flight experience for passengers travelling recently from the OR Thambo International Airport in Johannesburg to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The experience portraying this scenario is similar to that of the growing world of reality shows.
But a reality show, where life and death can be determined in seconds or minutes and where reactions may be spontaneous, calm, and prayerful and that of meditation and assessment of life lived on earth to ascertain if there is heavenly merit is the ultimate reality show.
This experience is reminiscence of the scenario that played out recently during an air return by South African Airways after 45 minutes of take-off from OR Thambo International airport en-route to Lagos, Nigeria, with majority of the passengers being Nigerians.
It was a normal flight from the OR Thambo International Airport in Johannesburg in South Africa to Lagos, with enthusiastic passengers looking forward to a smooth flight to Lagos.
Aboard the flight were some Nigerian musicians like 2 Face Idibia and his musical crew,
Flavour and his band boys, the former Minister of Women Affairs and former PDP Women Leader Mrs. Josephine Anenih, some Nigerian journalists and other personalities in the plane.
The air hostesses were set to serve the initial refreshment on the 6-hour flight. Some passengers were even fast asleep, while others were glued onboard entertainment watching one program or the other. I was very busy like other passengers, trying to select from the menu the program to watch.
Suddenly, the light in the aircraft went off as if it was the Nigeria Power Holding Company at work here.
People were waiting anxiously for power to be restored so as to continue the routine relaxation.
While all these played out, a voice came from the cockpit announcing that, “Ladies and
gentlemen, the aircraft has just development a fault, so we will be making an air return back to the OR Thambo International Airport in Johannesburg so that the engineers will look at the plane to find out what the problem is and determine the next line of action.
“Meanwhile, remain seated and fasten your seat belts. There is no need for panic because the situation in under control.
We have contacted the control tower and have mobilised the Airport Fire Service and the ambulances to be on standby at the OR Thambo International Airport in
case of any emergency, so you are assured that the situation is under control.
You do not need to panic,” the voice, later identified as being that of the pilot, stated.
Immediately, I called out to a fellow journalist from Nigeria who sat in front of me to confirm if I had heard the right announcement or not, but unfortunately, he was sleeping and I ended up been the person who woke him up and narrated the situation.
He was afraid, but I told him what the pilot had said and his assurances that the situation is under control.
After the statement by the pilot, there was palpable tension in the aircraft. Passengers were discussing in hush tones about the situation. To relieve the tension, a lot of the passengers left their seats and lined up to use the toilet and this generated into long queues.
Again, the pilot announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, you cannot use the toilet because there is no light to supply water to the toilet and as a result of that, the toilet cannot flush. So be patient and go back to your seats and wait patiently until we land safely at the OR Thambo International Airport.”
At this juncture, a Nigerian passenger now exclaimed, ‘Thank God this is not Nigeria.
Thank God o.” I proceeded to ask him why he said that and he answered, “Yes, I said that because if it were to be Nigeria, the pilot would like to manage the aircraft to Lagos like it happened in Dana Air in Iju Ishaga area of Lagos.”
There was high level of apprehension because the passengers expected the aircraft to land after another 45 minutes. When this did not happen, there was fear as the aircraft had hovered
for over one hour, thus creating further tension and fear in the passengers.
And as if the pilot read the mind of the passengers, he announced once more that, “I am assuring you that the situation is under control.
Soon we will be landing at the OR Thambo International
Airport. The delay in landing is because we are discharging the fuel so as to make the aircraft lighter to land. So as soon as we finish discharging the fuel, we will be descending again. Be assured that we will land safely. As a precautionary measure, we have mobilised all the emergency response agencies to be on standby.’’
After the announcement, the aircraft continued hovering, but before that, one of the naïve passengers, who sat beside me, asked with trepidation if we are crashing as the plane has refused to land for the last two hours after previous assurances by the pilot.
He showed me the wings of the aircraft, which was seriously pumping out fuel with high intensity. So, I explained to him, with my knowledge of aviation as an aviation correspondent, that what he was looking at was Jet AI, which the pilot was trying to pump out to make the aircraft lighter so that it could land safely. With my explanation, he calmed down.
Then, a white South African passenger sitting beside me pointed out to me that the fuel being discharged would be enough to fuel his car for two years.
Another white South African woman exclaimed nearby that, “Thank God the pilot detected this earlier. We wouldn’t have made it to Lagos alive.’’
Another passenger asked eagerly if the fuel was not been poured on top the roofs of houses and if the winds would not aid the fuel to pour on people walking on the road.
Some other passengers were praying silently in their minds while some others were busy making calls to their families and loved ones, asking for their prayers.
But true to type, the situation was actually under perfect control. Throughout the duration of the flight, everything was calm, the passengers were relaxed and at this point, I was thinking and wondering what it was like in the minds of the Dana Air passengers when this kind of announcement was made to them before the crash. But to me, what made the South Africa experience different was that the plane did not wobble at any time, except when it dropped drastically and the people became apprehensive.
But reliving the minds of the passengers on board, the Sunday Pilot correspondent declared that “Though I know it is only God that knows what will happen next, my nerves were calm as my instincts told me that nothing is going to happen,” he said.
And based on this innermost strength, he explained that he tried as much as possible
to monitor people’s reactions and their impulses to see what it looked like in the minds of people when a situation like this presents itself.
But incidentally, the pilot made the final announcement that, ‘’Ladies and gentlemen, we have finished discharging the fuel. In the next 15 minutes, we will be descending to the OR Thambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Fasten your seat belts if you have not done so. Air hostesses, please go around and ensure that the passengers comply with this instruction.
“Meanwhile, the engineers will be looking at the aircraft with a view to ascertaining the fault and fixing it. After that, they (the engineers) will determine if we can still proceed on the journey today or not. Thank you.’’
He made the statements and began to descend to the OR Thambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
And when the plane finally landed safely after over two hours of taking-off and hovering, there was wild jubilation; passengers were clapping hands in elation and thanking God that the plane has landed unharmed.
Assuredly before it finally came to a halt, there were heavy duty fire fighting vehicles and ambulances on ground.
We disembarked and the passengers were ushered into a small café at the airport terminal to take some light refreshment, following which most passengers expressed their feelings while
the situation lasted.
One of the passengers said, “At that point, I thought that if this should be the end, what will become of my family without any will?’’ Another passenger now cut in and said, “For me, I have not made any money to write a will. More so, I am too young to contemplate writing a will.’’
Also trying to know what the white South African passenger on my side was thinking during that period, I politely asked him to show me his passport to see what the Nigerian Visa looked like. In the process, I also asked him what was going on in his mind all through the turbulent times. He said he took it calmly because the pilot demonstrated a high level of professional competence to show that he was perfectly in control.
He said the pilot’s decision to make an air return after close to an hour’s flight is commendable.
While the former minister of women affairs, Josephine Anenih in her reaction simply said, “Thank God we landed safely.’’
After over two hours of the light refreshment at the Johannesburg airport café, passengers were busy calling their families to inform them that the plane had landed safely and that they would not be returning to Nigeria until the next day. But no sooner had they passed the information that an announcement was made directing Nigerian passengers to proceed to D 13 wing of the airport for boarding.
Understandably, the passengers expressed shock over the new development, notwithstanding their experience and apprehension which, to them, the management of South African Airways did not allow them to absorb before engaging in another trip. More so, they could not comprehend why it was the same aircraft, even though there were assurances by the engineers that the fault had been rectified and that the plane was sound and ready to fly to anywhere.
Expectedly, the development was corroborated by the same pilot who made the air return, that it was the same crew members. He assured the passengers that the fault was caused by one of the
air hostess that had forced a tray into a place it was not meant to be as it affected the light of the aircraft and forced the pilot to abort the flight as a safety precautionary measure.
He explained that the engineers hadrectified the fault and recertified the aircraft to fly
again, promising that he will try to make up for the lost time.
But checks by Sunday Pilot revealed that such decision was more on a business consideration.
“The decision to continue with the flight later was based on business consideration as the airline had wasted the fuel it was supposed to use to fly passengers to Lagos, including the huge
amount to be paid for hotel accommodation for the passengers and the other passengers already waiting in Lagos to fly back to Johannesburg with the aircraft,” an official of the airline management told this paper in confidentiality.
And as fate would have it, after about six hours of the resumed flight, the plane landed safely
at the Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, around 11 o’clock and the passengers finally heaved a sigh of relief.