Earlier today I was on BMIBaby Flight WW9502, an ATR 42,operated by Air Wales, from Glasgow Prestwick to Cardiff-Wales. I realised something may not be right as I watched Cardiff's runway pass below me and presumed it was a standard go-around. Unfortunately we carried on west down the coast, which made me think we were being routed to Swansea, before eventually turning around east of Port Talbot.
At this point I was thinking that there must have been some problem with runway operations that had now been dealt with, and was looking forward to a swift landing. This being my first time in any air diversion, I found the sense of tension coming from my fellows passengers fairly palpable and found it mildly amusing (knowing how safe air travel actually is). This mild amusement came to an abrupt halt, however, when the captain announced on his P.A. that he was getting an unsafe undercarriage indication and that, despite recycling the system, some part of the undercarrriage remained, potentially, unlocked. He then informed us that we were going to carry out a low fly-past of the airport to allow ATC to carry out a visual; this resulted in the conclusion that there was indeed a problem with one of the legs.
So here it was....my first ever in-flight emergency. The air steward walked through the cabin and spoke to everyone about what was going to happen and what we were to do. He selected myself and another gentleman to sit on the inboard seats next to the emergency exits at the front, and asked us to guide our fellow passengers out of our respective exits, after the aircraft had come to a stop and the passengers at the exits had removed the doors and exited the aircraft, which we were both happy to do.
I spoke to those around me, trying to reassure them that we were not in imminent danger as it was more than likely a faulty indication and, if not, having watched many similar incidents on television and via the internet, that we would scrape along the runway to a stop, which would be uncomfortable but not life-threatening. Remembering that a baby was being held in its mother's arms, I requested that it be passed to its father across the aisle, believing that he would offer it greater protection from what could be an eventful landing, which she diligently did. Also, I enquired with the steward whether he should think about moving those passengers sitting in the propellors' axis for fear of blade penetration of the cabin, but he declined to do so, which was fine by me as he held the authority in the cabin, and a public debate on this was the last thing these very anxious passengers needed.
The Captain then informed us that we were soon to land and at the appropriate moment called out the 'brace' command. We floated along the runway for what felt to be a fairly long time, albeit the situation we were in could cause one's mind to distort the true time. Eventually I realised that the Captain had performed his best ever landing (good stuff, adrenaline) and that we were actually on the runway. Knowing that only half the job was done, I watched with excitement and a dash of fear as the speed decayed. I looked out both sides of the aircraft awaiting the first sign of a wing dropping, or to detect the aircraft sinking on to it's nose. Time passed, and then.......nothing! I realised we were now at taxiing speed and that, sure enough, all three legs were upright. The possibility of a collapse may still have been present, but at taxiing speed or less I didn't care. We were safe, and from the atmosphere in the cabin, everyone knew it. All of a sudden people found their tongues and, boy, could they use them. There wasn't a stranger among us, as we all spoke to whoever caught our eye, and made little jokes about our incident.
We then taxied to a place away from the terminal, escorted by the fire crew- nice to see them, even nicer not to need them. Getting into the terminal bus, I asked the driver if his wheels were okay and, on confirmation that they were, asked if he could take us to the nearest pub. The laughs told me I was not the only one who could have done with a tall Glenmorangie.
So there we have it- my first ever emergency. They are so few and far between that you never believe it can happen to you ( my National Lottery tickets comply with this theory, sadly). So, a big well done to the Captain and F.O. for a perfect landing, like-wise to Wayne the steward for carrying out the procedures so calmly (no training can fully equip you for the stresses endured during a real emergency), well done to all the passengers who remained calm at such a difficult time, and thank you to ATC, fire crew and everyone else who helped that I didn't mention.
ps Was there any risk of a propellor blade, or part of, entering the cabin? Can anyone give me info on their airline's policy with regard to the moving of pax away from the axis of the propellor blades in such a situation? Any previous examples of such an event occuring?
VC10 Rib22
