"Excuse me miss, Do you have a parachute in here ??"

One often doesnt ask this question in the normal course of life. But i asked this to the Airhostess on-board a not so well run Airlines in the USA recently. After a failed attempt to hire a car to drive down to Baltimore to meet my uncle and his family for Eid Ul Fitr, i bought Airline tickets and though it cost me an Arm and a Leg, ( and not my life); it may well have cost me my life had not luck intervened.

The Aircraft took off on a warm crisp Syracuse morning, cruising over 18,000 feet and we could see the Onandaga lake below us in all its glory. A beautiful sight which is truly inspiring, the altitude sort of heightened the pleasure of seeing the Lake. While all the passengers aboard enjoyed the sight, the Captain made a circuitous journey around the lake again. A second loop meant we saw the lake again. Wow ! i told myself, this is grand. I get to see the lake not once but twice. What a lucky day this is. Surely the pilot is in a good mood.

A third loop around the same lake and i started to worry. Surely, there must be an error or some sort of mistake. Why would the pilot go around the lake again and again ? The passengers started whispering to each other. "Is something wrong, what is going on here " etc. etc. After what seemed to be a very long silence, the captain announced " Due to a technical error, we are unable to go higher and hence we are being forced to land and HOPEFULLY we will be able to land safely back in Syracuse". I was ok with the language, except for the word Hopefully intersected there. Some words can really be a killer and in this context it was what not only panicked me but all the others too.

In a span of a few seconds, my mind did a quick scan of the aircraft and i located the Airhostess, a good looking blonde who still managed to smile nervously at everyone despite the 'emergency' announcement. I beckoned her and whispered " Excuse me miss, but do you have parachutes on this plane ". She smiled sheeplishly and tried to laugh at what was an apparent joke.

By God's grace, my mother's prayers and the well wishes of the spirits of Onandaga lake we managed to land safely sans parachutes. But it did teach me a lesson not to trust small aircrafts which look ancient. So the next time i am actually hopping onto one, i will surely carry my own parachute. you never know when you might need one !