Spoiler alert: That didn't happen! We ended up 12 hours behind schedule.
After a half hour delay, we boarded the A380-800 double decker plane and preceded to sit on the runway for well over an hour. I was dozing in and out until the Captain announced that we were heading back to our gate because 2 (out of 4) of the engines weren't functioning properly. WHAT?? I did my 4-7-8 Dr. Weil breathing, prayed a lot, and just tried hard to stay calm. The engines??? I mean, they are pretty necessary. After two hours of repair, the engineers gave us the OK and we prepared for take-off. I was doing alright. At least they were fixed. Good as new. Better than before. I hoped.
We took off. I fell asleep hard on D's shoulder. Then a little announcement from the Captain again. More bad news. "You may have wondered why we haven't risen above 8,000 feet. There is a problem with the pressurization on the plane. We will need to make an emergency landing back in Singapore. Flight attendants, prepare for landing. We'll be back on the ground in 30 minutes." I had never felt more awake in my life.
Gripping D's hand harder than ever, I asked the attendants (sitting right in front of us) if this happened often. They both shook their head no. "But this doesn't scare you though?" I asked, hoping for some reassurance. "No comment," from the male attendant. Are you kidding me???? LIE DUDE!!! My heart rate was at an all time high. I couldn't even get through the 4-7-8 this time. Not even close. Please get us on the ground. Please get us on the ground. More praying. More hand squeezing. Deep breathing (but no counting).
At this point other passengers were starting to lose it. The flight attendants were frazzled and running around trying to help people in the midst of landing. It wasn't pretty. Captain again. This time the announcement came after our rocky landing. "Don't be alarmed if you see fire engines and police officers. This is standard procedure. They are checking the tires to make sure that they haven't flamed or burst after landing." (Apparently when you have an emergency landing and are still holding around 600,000 lbs of jet fuel, it can damage the tires with the extra weight. Who knew?)
I couldn't wait to get off of the plane. The only problem was, we still had a 13 hour flight ahead of us. I was dreading it.
It took 2 hours to get everyone off of the plane to safety ... to the gate where it all began 6 hours before.
We were scheduled to board a new plane at 7:30am. I have 2 hours to get it together.
D and I took turns napping. Announcement was made that all of the tires needed to be fixed before the plane could be towed back to the gate and the luggage removed. Flight was delayed until 9:30, then 10:30, and then ultimately 11:30 when they decided that it was best to leave the luggage and send it on the next plane out. Which meant that we could have really left at 7:30am. I was focused more on just getting home safely, whatever time that would be.
(Side note: D never lets us check bags. It's a Weisman family rule. We can get in and out more quickly, we never have to worry about a lost bag, etc. The same rule applied to our 10 day South African Safari. Absolutely nuts!!! That was tough. So I wasn't feeling too great about cramming 9 days worth of things for Thailand in a carry-on, either. But, best decision ever. We had our bags!!!! Silver lining!)
We boarded. Took off. Landed safely. Were given a passport holder and £150 for the bag inconvenience and the 12 hour delay. It was an incredibly awful experience, but in fairness to Singapore Air, they did the right thing and they got us home safely!
We were asleep by 9:30pm Saturday evening (4am GMT) and I was awake by 4:45am. We went to Easter mass, had brunch with friends, and were back in bed by 5pm for the remainder of the night. I was up again at 4:30am after only sleeping for 5 hours. I'm beat.
I didn't have it in me to write a post about Thailand. That will come sometime soon. Not really sure how I mustered up enough energy to write as much as I have. I couldn't leave this story untold.
Off to Vegas this weekend with PK then to a wedding the following weekend ... really racking up the miles. I'm exhausted just thinking of all the excitement.
Safe travels my people!
xx
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| evacuation |
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| yes, that's D...and yes, that's a sleeping mask. diva. |
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| you better be sorry! |
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| this plane is HUGE |
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
HAPPY EASTER
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| brunch with the O'Neills |
Phew...glad you are back safely. What an experience!
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