31st October, 2023
By Yushau Shuaib
“Ladies and Gentlemen. This is your Captain speaking. We regret to announce that because of a technical problem, we have to return to Paris for safety and security.”
That was the announcement made by the Captain of the Abuja-bound Air France flight on Monday, October 23, 2023, that had departed Charles De Gaulle (CDG) Airport in Paris, France after over two hours in the air en route Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, Nigeria.
Air France is a reliable airline which flies to over 200 international destinations in more than 90 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
The announcement for the U-turn was made after the plane had passed European airspace, flying over the Mediterranean Sea, crossed over the North African countries of Tunisia and Algeria and just about approaching Niger Republic in the scheduled six-hour flight.
As I looked around, I could see and feel the agitation in the minds and body language of the bewildered passengers. We were confused but everyone remained obediently calm and prayerful.
An old Nigerian woman who was depressed voiced out loudly: “The pilots should park the plane in any nearby airport to fix the trouble!”
I joined an air attendant and other passengers on board to pacify the woman so that she wouldn’t suffer shock or any cardiovascular attack. Meanwhile, deep inside me, I knew that other passengers needed similar pacification going by their disturbing glances.
Those who were formerly watching movies and listening to music from the video screen on the seats had now switched their channel to route map that shows the direction of the flight as it made a U-Turn towards Paris.
At that moment, I remembered those verses in the scriptures and scenes of horror movies on the D-Day and what might finally unfold. I could not shake off the negative, horrific thoughts in my head. I comforted myself by realising that I had said my early morning prayers to Almighty God. I nevertheless regretted that I couldn’t speak to my mother and other loved ones the previous days. I remember old friends that I had wished to catch up with. Suddenly, I realised that everything about this world including wealth, fame, families, position and power was indeed nothing.
I realised that there were top politicians, businessmen and celebrities in the business class so, if anything happened, my name would not make the headlines. The editors may cast their headlines thus: “Top Politicians, Business Tycoons, Celebrities Perish in Ill-fated Air Plane.”
At that moment, I wished I had shared the pictures we took at the Golden World Award hosted by the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) in Barcelona, Spain, where my Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), publisher of PRNigeria and the Nigerian Airforce (NAF) were honoured with Crisis Management Awards before an eventual trip to Paris. With the award trophy in my travelling bag, it dawned on me that there are crises that award-winning Crisis Managers cannot manage. I felt my seat belt as if I was tightened to the stake in a firing squad expecting the executioners to pull the trigger and the worst could happen.
I queried myself for deciding to have a few days transit in Paris for holidays with my wife just to satisfy the Schengen visa requirement offered to us by the French Embassy. Unfortunately, none of the pictures we took at tourist sites in Paris had been shared with anyone. The pictures including our visits to the famous Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Louvre Museum etc were saved on our phones.
Like a child, I consciously blamed no one but myself for looking for ‘trouble’ travelling by air every time when I could have taken the risk of road transportation which could have been safer in case of an emergency and by which someone’s body can be easily retrieved for a befitting burial.
Trivial conversation by passengers, the revving of the plane engine, and the sound of movement were so irritating to my eardrum. I wished facemasks, ear masks, nose masks and even strong sleeping pills could be provided to relieve us of the excessive tension.
The slight jerking by the plane prompted me back to the reality around me. I wished the air hostess could once again demonstrate the safety tips and instructions for emergency purposes which I always ignored or paid no attention to previously.
Slight jolt and jerk of the plane ran shivers down my veins as I quickly connected my device to Wi-Fi and googled ‘air turbulence.’ I was comforted to read that air turbulence might be a bit uncomfortable, but it is regarded as normal because planes are built to handle the worst scenarios.
I gathered that for a plane to fly stably, airflow passing over and under the wings needs to be regular. However, some weather events can cause irregularity in the airflow and this creates air pockets. Even though there are clear air, temperature inversion and mechanical turbulences, passengers’ safety is guaranteed once they fasten their seat belts.
Mild and violent turbulence could create panic among passengers, but they do not cause a plane to crash because pilots are specially trained while aircraft are engineered to survive all types of turbulence.
Though I was not sitting by the door, I was shocked when I read that if a plane door was suddenly thrust open, anyone standing near the exit would be ejected into the sky; the cabin temperature would quickly plummet to frostbite-inducing levels, and the plane itself might even begin to break apart.
I deliberately refused to look at the passengers sitting by the doors out of sympathy as I prayed for our safe landing.
For the first time at that moment, I was envious and jealous of those who hardly travel but rely on technology from the comfort of their homes and offices to attend conferences, receive certificates, bag awards, make friends and tour sites of attractions from internet-enabled devices and programmes.
The cabin crew members were busy attending to passengers’ needs with words of reassurance even as the flight was smooth.
I watched with keen interest as the aeroplane tactically manoeuvred in the clouds and sky till it remained about 30 minutes to landing when the pilot confirmed the same.
The landing was a huge relief because of my experience of over two hours on the flight.
I could hear different names of God in victory songs and prayers renting the air.
When we alighted, the Air France personnel provided us with meal tickets and checked us into decent hotels for the next available flights mostly through codeshare agreement with other airlines.
The following day, we were booked and checked in with Lufthansa Airline which took us to Munich and Frankfurt on transit before finally landing safely in Abuja Airport.
Yushau Shuaib, author of Award Winning Crisis Communication Strategies.
www.YAShuaib.com, [email protected]