In my very first entry, Be Advised, I mentioned that I do not prefer flying and included a frightening video that indicated why this was so.
Since that post all of three weeks ago, the following absurdities have taken place in the so-called “friendly skies:”
1. On July 21, United Flight 967 from Washington D.C. to L.A. went thru aggressive turbulence and was forced to divert to Denver, where 22 people were treated for injuries. (Source)
2. Today, August 16, an Aires flight bound for Colombia, South America was struck by lightning. Only one person died, which, given this is how the plane looked after the emergency landing, is unbelievable. (Source)
3. And, lastly, on my plane ride to Paris a week ago, I saw a woman die. She was old and it was her time, but it was really unpleasant. She had a seizure six hours into the flight, and the flight attendants and various passengers worked hard to revive her, but I think she died kind of as soon as it happened – she was laid out in the aisle about six inches from my seat and I saw EVERYTHING. We had to divert to Ireland where her body was carried off the plane in a some sort of makeshift sling…I know this was worse for her and her loved ones than it was for me, but that still didn’t make it okay. She was so close to my seat that flight attendants keep pushing at me to move – well, it’s an airplane and my options were limited, so I sat in my sister’s lap for an hour (the guy next to her had taken a sleeping pill meant for cattle and slept thru the whole thing – lucky).
WTF. I’m just glad to have made it home in one piece. Next time I fly, I plan to do so under the influence of that sleeping pill meant for cattle.