Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Most Frightening Moments)

Member Name: Charris2002

Product:	Most Frightening Moments
Date:	05/12/08 (300 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It might put you off flying

Disadvantages: It might not

Oh this one is so easy! Bear with me though, because this isn't a short opinion.

The most frightening experience I have ever had - I have to say, not too many of them to choose from but a flight I took from Tunisia to the UK has to be at Numero Uno, no question about it.

I'd booked a holiday in Tunisia, nice hot sun, a bit of local colour, a couple of days visiting the Sahara, a dream come true. And so it was, until it was time to come home, and come back down to earth with a bang. Little did I know just how appropriate this expression would be!!

Okay, yes it was a wonderful holiday, a superb place to visit, long hot days, lazy nights and some of the most incredible sightseeing ever. Still, this isn't an opinion of a holiday destination. It's about terror, sheer unadulterated, buttock clenching, knee knocking, terror. That moment in which you know that you are, in fact, going to die, very soon, and most probably unpleasantly, messily and not necessarily quickly.

Let me set the scene - we arrive at Hammamet airport in a storm of biblical proportions in the early hours of the morning - God isn't moving his furniture so much as taking a sledge-hammer to it. He's following this by the injudicious use a flame thrower, that throws sheets of fire across the skies - reds, blues, orange and yellow sheets of lightning give an apocalyptic feel to the event.

Hah, we think, there's no way we'll get away on time, let's settle in for a while, get a seat and make ourselves as comfortable as possible. Oh, how wrong we were! We trundle across the runaway, no way to avoid getting drenched, no shelter and far too much metal around for my liking - it attracts lightning, you know?

So, on board, in our seats, a palpable air of fear pervades the plane, people talking in hushed tones, the odd burst of hysterical laughter cuts through the air like nails dragging upon a blackboard. You can almost smell the fear, taste it, the plane trembles - no, it's not the engines, it's the passengers shaking almost as one, sending tremors through the fuselage. I think, still, that we'll be sitting here, trapped in the biggest lightning conductor on the runway for a while.

But hark, what's that? The throaty roar of ignition drowns out the murmured misgivings of the captive passengers and I feel the plane turning slowly to face the runway.....I open my eyes (briefly) and notice that the sad faced old gentleman seated in front of me is looking somewhat pale, beads of sweating rolling down his neck, he's physically shaking and his wife is looking on, a look of concern and worry etched onto her face. I've seen similar before, in my previous career as a psychiatric nurse, this guy is not well, not at all well and I'm fairly sure it's not just fear.

We've taxied around and we face the runaway, the engines suddenly roar and we are away. Building up to 200 mph, on a runway that resembles a lake, I'm taking it one moment at a time, let us get off the ground, please and I'll worry about the rest later.. Astonishingly, we are airborne, driving steadily upwards into the night sky, rain hammers against the plane, like a thousand manic woodpeckers hammering into a tree, lightning flashes around us - it's like being in a war zone. I take a breath, the first for what seems like an eternity and slump back in my seat, mentally exhausted.

The occasional pocket of turbulence tosses us about like a piece of driftwood, buffeting us here and there, up and down, we lose height suddenly and my stomach rejoins minutes later. This is Hell, this is purgatory, I haven't hurt anyone in life, please God, stop this now and let me get off!

Meanwhile, in front of me, sad faced old gent is having major problems breathing - I ring for a stewardess and suggest it may be a good idea to see if there is a doctor on board. She does, quietly and discreetly, and the lady doctor and I confer for a couple of minutes, and she has a word with sad faced old gentleman's wife, who informs us that he has a history of heart problems. Doctor takes charges, briefly examines him and advises the stewardess that she is helpless and we must land as soon as possible to get access to proper medical care.

Sadly, devastatingly, we cannot turn back and are forced to detour to Cannes in order to land. This is an hour away. We fly onwards, the weather slowly improving, and by the time we land, Gods finished his housekeeping, the rain has faded away to a bad memory, and there is even a hint of dawn in the far horizon. We have done everything we can to help sad faced old gentleman but it's all to no avail. By the time we land in Cannes, he's suffered a major heart attack, we are unable to resuscitate him and fellow passengers are consoling us, and more importantly, his widow. Sickeningly, it takes almost an hour and a half to get the gentleman and his hysterical widow off the plane, everyone else is denied permission to disembark, and we remain in our seats, physically and mentally exhausted.

Eventually we leave and in what seem no time, we land safely at Newcastle. I don't like flying any more, although my job increasingly necessitates flying. Anyway, enough about me. I've come to terms with my fear. and now actually quite enjoy flying. But how about you? Do you like flying? Or does it scare you to bits? Do you need to pop a pill to calm you down or do you opt for good old fashioned alcohol to do the trick? Or are you confident flier? Love that stomach wrenching lift off and that bone jarring touchdown? Just remember, it's statistically the safest form of transport there is!!!

Summary: The Journey Through Hell