Thursday, 15 April 2010

Master of understatement

The volcanic ash currently halting flights from airports across Europe reminds me of the 1982 incident in which a British Airways jumbo was affected by a similar cloud of ash over Indonesia.

With all four engines having failed, the plane already having fallen by 23,000 feet, the captain made the following announcement to passengers:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much distress."

Priceless.
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2 comments:

  1. Le laquet16 April 2010 at 05:43

    I have friends who live right under the Heathrow flight path and I do mean RIGHT under ... can you imagine how chuffed they are right now?

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  2. Frank Dobner16 April 2010 at 19:50

    I suppose this is a jet captain being about as calm and collected as he could be at such a moment of duress.

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