After the Mangalore crash, where nearly 160 passengers where charred to death, every passenger anywhere in India is a little worried each time an aircraft descends for landing. I am one of those awe and fear struck passengers undergoing the trauma of being at the mercy of pilots whom we don’t know. What I know is that despite tens of lands and hundreds of flying hours, the pilots can make error and one single error is enough to be the last error for not only the pilot but also the error free passengers.
Even when I am on the Vashi bridge traveling either from Pune to Mumbai or Nerul to Mumbai, I ensure that my head is turned towards right to see a line of aircrafts descending one after the other. I am not looking at those aircrafts per say but thinking of those passengers mind set.
But most of the time I have traveled and touched down at most airports, including Mangalore and Calicut, I have not experienced the thud landing. But I always ensured to peep through the cockpit and see who the commanders are whenever I board an aircraft. If I see grey hair with smiling faces, I always got a big relief but if I see young teen looking, boyish-girlish-childish commanders, my blood pressure goes up. Will I reach my destination or I will be left to destiny?
I don’t have a problem while taking off with any commanders and as usual I starts my prayers whenever the commander says, “Cabin crew to seats please”. But as soon as the commander repeats this on the descend, the heart beats double and my prayers go into a different zone. Though I look outside the window for a better view of the ground, my mind is always spiritual for that little time.
Gradually I found that all these are myths. As I went deep into aircraft behaviour, I realized that when it gets locked into ILS, the pilots are just dummies. But believe me these childish looking pilots have always had some of the smoothest landings I have ever experienced. At times, I don’t even feel the plane has landed until it starts applying brakes. I feel like going into the cockpit and kissing the commanders for their great landing but if I do so, I may land in police custody for harassment charges.
In earlier days, before the advent of private airlines, Indian Airlines and Air India ruled the skies. Just like the Doordarshan days when the audience never had an opportunity to compare television programmes, air travelers never saw chilled cabin and young and beautiful cabin crew.
So if you fly the national carriers, you get two servings – one is warm welcome and the other is maternal care. Warm because the air-conditioners never worked in the national carriers and maternal care because the cabin crew has always been aged at par with your mother or grandmother. They always served you food as if they have another flight to catch mid air. The captain never spoke to the passengers except for the mandatory stuff.
Indian skies have changed manifold today. Despite too many flights criss crossing the country, we have had fewer accidents. But all these said and done, I still carry what I call ‘touchdown fear.’ The fear as the aircraft starts its landing process and the seat belts are tight, the cabin crew is seated and lo behold, the plane has landed. Smoothly again.
