I was shivering, shaking, panting, gasping, and
hyperventilating. My mind flashed back. I
was about to board the airline. As was the custom in my family, I sent sms to
my dad that I was about to board. I called my husband as soon as I sent the sms
that I was boarding already. I boarded with my daughter. There was nothing strange about the whole
pre-take off and take off procedure. My daughter was strapped to me with an
infant belt. She is 2. About 30mins into the flight, one of the crew members
announced that we need to strap on tight and said a few things to calm us
down. I felt the plane jerked in a funny
way about a couple of times and it did not feel like the regular turbulence one
would experience. But then I did not feel any fear-yet-as I simply assumed we
were approaching the airport and descending. Yes seems we were sort of
descending already or was it my imagination? We would descend, and then rise
again. This was kind of strange. When this continued for another five minutes I
noticed a few other passengers were feeling uneasy as well. Now we were about 35minutes in air. Seemed like
all was fine again. Then we got that reassuring announcement that we were approaching
the Muritala Muhammed airport and check that our seat belts were fastened. This was about 5mins after the descend and
rise effect I felt. My daughter was
wriggling restlessly so I held her tight and tried to soothe her with playful
songs.
Then! I felt the
plane descend sharply. I looked out and I did not see that we were above the
airport yet. It came up a bit again. This time, everyone obviously panicked. I held
onto my daughter so tight that she cried. Then I was saying ‘Subhanallah, lai
laha ila Allahu’. I was saying all that amidst reciting the protective verse “kur
siyu” of the Holy Quran. Others around me were also screaming all sorts of
prayers. I could only hear myself. There was suddenly a very loud sound and
that was when I felt like I was floating alone and my whole inside was dropping
down , down , down. God! We weren’t
landing. We were falling! It was so fast but it was so detailed at the same
time. Like a slow motion being replayed fast. I have no idea if something hit
the plane or the plane hit something but we stopped descending with a loud thud
with things flying down and around inside the air craft at the same time. I was
seated towards the back. Something had fallen to hit the man beside me on his
head. It was all so confusing. People screaming inside, fallen over each other.
I saw nothing. I only heard my daughter saying ‘mummy mummy, let us go outside’.
As I prayed in fear, my heart was screaming to my husband but nothing came from
my lips. He was at the airport waiting to pick me. He could not hear me. Because we did not land
at t he airport. I prayed he would hear me and come for me. I told myself I would make sure nothing happened
to my daughter. I was so scared now. I am
shivering. And holding my baby, and crying because I knew it was a crash. There
was no crew member to re assure anyone. I saw none of them. As I walked blindly towards the only ray of
light I could see, I heard a wheezing sound and then….there was flame.
I am sweating. Yes I am
panting, just writing my imagination. It did not happen to me. But it could
have been anyone of use and I know it happened
to someone. Maybe not exactly. All of
the above flashed through my mind within 5mins. I was crying. I pray that those
who died in the crash find peace-one way or another. I pray that all none of
the kids onboard experienced pain before they died. I pray that all of the kids
on that Dana plane felt the love of their mother as strong as ever.
Wao, you have quit an imagination if i may say so. Your words are full of emotions. dont be surprised if a movie comes out of one of your write-ups. keep it up sis.
ReplyDeletefor a moment i thought it was one of the survivors narrating...but then the reality dawned on me that there was no survivor...*trying to hold back these tear from falling again*... But I must say you have a very good imagination and well skilled in putting words to paper.
ReplyDeletedeep imagination, painful reality !
ReplyDeleteWow! Bola your story left me with goose pimples.
ReplyDeletehowever i understand how we can all want to imagine being in that position. This unfortunate crash was a painful reality. A wake up call to our people. We need better crafts and proper Maintenance.
I pray for peace for the departed, those innocent children, families left behind to pick up the pieces of what's left of their family. Lord have mercy, keep us safe.
OMG!!! So touching.
ReplyDelete(Crying) cos I remember that day and It was so sad wallahi and still so sad taking me back to that memory later... May there peaceful soul countinue to rest in peace,amin. Kai,(crying).
ReplyDeleteIt's 2yrs already and still fresh like a fresh wound. Yes we were 13 of us brand new ab initio cabin crew. We were ready to take the world in the air, the dangers in the job were well relayed to us in the walls of the training school. We all said God forbid it won't ever happen to any of us. She loved the job to the pit of her soul, she's seen d movie view from the top and fell in love with d job. We call her Vivacious Viv cos she was the most likely and energetic human being I had ever known till date. She was the lead crew(smile) that was all our dreams. Little did she know soon that duty well trained for wld beckon and she must obey, she must assure her pax all was well despite d dreaded 6 chimes that quietly lead her to her end. A shattered hope, an international job on Qatar air, a wedding in a month, and the twins she never had. She said to me 'bisola touch my tommy cos I must born twins ohhhh' (sigh) Ummm my friend is gone for ever but Dana is here, a constant reminder of my loss. Rest on Viva!!!
ReplyDeletePainful memory..nice write up..
ReplyDeleteSad!your imaginations tho
ReplyDeleteGd write up,sister. Wonderful sense of empathy. May their souls rest in peace. May Allah(s.w.t) avert such occurrence from us
ReplyDeleteAmin
At first I said to myself. We have been friends for a while and Bola never mentioned her near-death experience. I follow through to know how u got your life back. Then I realised that your imagination was too deep to get me sweating.. great article
ReplyDelete