Flying

As many of you know, Hubby was once an Airline Pilot. When I packed his bag and sent him off, I never really thought too much about ‘if’ he would would come home, just when.

I really had a lot of confidence in his ability to fly an airplane, and having flown with him all over the Americas and Europe, I just never gave it any thought, that perhaps the plane might crash. I knew how well trained he was, and how serious he was about his work.

Oh there was one day in the early years of our marriage when I was out doing errands and Hubby was off on a trip. I was listening to WBZ Radio and they did a typical news tease…”Pan Am Flight Crashes…Details In A Moment”.

My heart skipped several beats (Hubby was off on a trip) and I drove home as quickly as I could. I raced into our house, put on the big satellite dish we had back then and there is was, a 747, blown to bits in Lockerbee, Scotland.

Hubby called me to let me know that things were crazy in New York and he was staying down there for the night, but he was fine.

We did lose a few people that we knew, and it was a bad time for many Pan Am families.

A little bit later Hubby was flying out of Barbados when there was a problem with an engine. He and another pilot we know very well, turned back, landed safely and waited until the next day until the plane part from New York arrived and all was well.

Meanwhile, Hubby called me to tell me he was fine, and in this case going wind surfing. When he returned home, he had the sunburn to prove it!

Hubby said the closest call he had was flying over Germany back in the 1970’s. He was sitting in the Engineers seat, and had turned to speak to a cockpit pass rider. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught site of another large aircraft. He hollered at the Captain, who put the plane in a nose dive, but Hubby said he held his breath, as he was sure the tail of the plane was gone. Thankfully it wasn’t.

I guess things happen. All you can do is hope that on that day, when something like this happens, that it is not your day to go and meet your maker.

Meanwhile, at this point, I’m happy that Hubby has retired and is home with me. When something like this happens, I have my own airline expert to give me his personal opinion.