This post was prompted by the ‘100 Word Challenge’ here, which requires the
five words shown in bold print to be used along with 100 further words.
The view from the aeroplane portholes was magnificent – an intense blue sky, and below us, mountains and the ocean, aquamarine.
Then – a sudden silence…
The loudspeakers crackled into life.
“This is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped.”
Passengers looked at one another, aghast. The ocean seemed gradually closer – telling us that the crew had acted quickly to put the aircraft into a controlled descent.
Then, after fifteen minutes, came a roar as first one, then another engine restarted, closely followed by the other two.
Never was that roar more welcome. Our captain deserved – and finally, got – an award.
This account is based on what actually happened to flight BA009
from Kuala Lumpur on the 24th of June, 1982.
