What an ordeal!

It all started with the delay...

11.50 am : Boarded Swiss Airlines (Geneva to London)

12 noon : Pilot announces that there would be a slight delay as they have not got a landing slot in London due to the heavy weekend traffic at the Heathrow Airport.

1.00 pm : Flight takes off.

1.02 pm : Pilot announces an engine failure and flight will return to Geneva for emergency landing!

What?! At first, I really didn't take them seriously, but when one of the passenger called out to the cabin crew that the there is smoke and sparks of fire from one of the engines on my side of the plane, I started to get scared.

In the mean time, the flight did not land in 8 minutes. Rather, it was circling in the air for some time.. especially over the sea.. which I preferred. I believed that emergency water landing was safer than landing on land.

We usually assume that the procedures are the same for most flights, and hardly concentrate on the video shows about the emergency procedures. But this was a real emergency, and I took out the emergency evacuation sheet and read it, just to make sure I know what to do.. just in case.

1.35 pm : Flight landed in Geneva.

As the flight came to a stop, two fire engines, a police van and a couple of maintenance trucks approached the plane. This made us imagine the degree of danger that we were in.. Phew!

2.00 pm : Allowed to disembark into a bus that took us to the terminal.

2.15 pm : Arrived at the transfer counter, where we had to get ourselves checked in any possible / earliest flight to our next destinations. I noticed that there was a flight to London at 3.10 pm. That was perfect! But will I be able to check-in that flight, having 2 other people in front of me trying to change their flights.

2.30 pm : I approach the transfer desk with my turn. She realizes I have a long haul flight at 6.00 pm from London to KL and tries her best to put me on the 3.10 pm flight.

2.40 pm : She passes me the flight 'coupon' and says, "Follow the yellow line and run! If there is a queue at the security, just tell them you have a immediate flight and need to rush (cut queue)."

Not knowing how far is the gate, I had to run.. just in case. I cut the queue by asking permission from someone who doesn't speak English, and reach the gate at 2.55 pm. Phew!

3.00 pm : We boarded the plane. Again, due to the heavy air traffic, we didn't have a landing slot in London.

4.00 pm : We left Geneva. I was worried that I might not be able to catch my KL flight at 6.00 pm.

4.55 pm : We arrive in London.

5.10 pm : Disembark and arrive at Terminal 2 to board another bus to Terminal 3.

5.20 pm : Boarded the bus and told the driver that I have a flight at 6.00 pm.

5.35 pm : Arrived at Terminal 3. With only 25 minutes left, the security had to ask us to remove our shoes! All done, I rushed to the ticket counter only to find the MAS counter closed. I checked with somebody at another counter, he said, "Try at the gate." Arghh!

And there I go again.. another dash.

I ran about 50m when I started panting like mad. I spotted a buggy parked in the side alley.. being helpless and breathless, I asked him if he could send me to my gate. He asked me my gate number and said, "Ah, it's just there.." Damn! I tried running, but I couldn't do it. A young man spotted me being breathless, he asked me if he could help me with my bag. Though I was reluctant to hand him my bag (hand carry), I just couldn't do it by myself already.. so, I passed him my bag.

5.50 pm : I arrive at the gate.. trying to explain to the officers why I don't have a boarding pass. They tried to understand and asked me to head inside to see what they can do to.

One of the ground staffs tried to shoe me off by saying, "No boarding pass, you can't board!" I was like, "It's not my fault. This is my actual flight.. all delayed due to flight delays."

Luckily, another staff decided to see if there were anymore available seats onboard.. which they had.. right at the end of the plane. Ah, who cares.. as long as I get to go back home!

6.00 pm : We board the plane, but again, take off is delayed. I sit there, feeling dizzy and hungry.

I took out my sandwich which I packed during breakfast.. for my tea. But with no lunch at all, I hungrily snacked on my sandwich.

In the mean time, I was suffering some pain at the back of my head and my neck.. which I guess was due to lack of oxygen after all that running.

7.00 pm : The plane took off..

3.00 pm (local time) : Yippee! I arrived home.. safe and sound.

Phew! What an ordeal..