A couple of coincidences. My father was a concert pianist. On his way home from Australia sometime in the 60s he stopped in Singapore. He decided to go for a drink at Raffles. As he walked in a neighbour walked out. They went in for a drink. "Where are you going next?" asked the neighbour. Delhi answered father. When? Tomorrow. Which airline? BOAC. That's my flight. Dad had just settled in his seat next day when cabin crew came and said "Captain Smiths' compliments would you like to join him in the cockpit". and so my father had a ride out of Singapore and into Delhi. (and, yes, the neighbour really was called Captain Smith!)
Then, sometime in the 90s I met a BA FO on a cub scout weekend. A month later I boarded a flight to Belfast and there he was again. On finals he turned and said "we're now going to demonstrate a short landing in a 737". My impression was that we only just missed the grass and then max braking, full reverse thrust etc. Once we got to the terminal and shut down I couldn't help asking why. The response was along the lines : we're ten minutes late, there are 3 exits from the runway, one at each end and one halfway. By taking the half way exit we made up 5 of those ten minutes.
Last edited by Hartington; 15th March 2024 at 22:06.