I left Zimbabwe on a freezing cold Monday morning. My flight was scheduled for 11am. At 10.55 they told us, while we were waiting in the icy cold hangar that has openings near the roof to let in the wind, that there would be a 20 minute delay due to a technical fault. That made us very,very nervous.
The reason for the nervousness is that Air Zimbabwe has some Chinese planes called MA60s. They have propellers. In this day and age! Also, when Air Zim purchased them, they got 3 for the price of 2. Unfortunately they are not the most reliable of aircraft, so at the moment, one of them is grounded and they cannibalise it for spare parts for the other two. Seriously.
The 20 minute delay turned into a 2 hour delay and eventually at one o'clock we were allowed to board the plane. After we were seated, the first thing we saw is someone coming out of the cockpit with a toolbox. Not reassuring. Given the level of our nervousness, I was not impressed with the passenger next to me who duly informed me that one of the engines which we could see out the window was dripping something.
How I made it through that 2 hour flight I will never know, but I am grateful to report that we landed in Johannesburg without any incident. Flying Air Zim is a nervous business.
I know that I tease a lot about Bulawayo Airport being a converted aircraft hangar, but I have to say that Cape Town airport tops it. They are doing massive construction at the moment for the 2010 World Cup. This means that there are lots of temporary structures, but the best one is the boarding gates at the domestic terminal. They are in a TENT. Yes, a tent. And the best part, during the storms last weekend, it BLEW OVER. Beat that.
Soundtrack for the Day: Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits.
No comments:
Post a Comment