One small flying story (Or why Fact is stranger than Fiction)

The location:
On board of a flight say, from Mumbai to Delhi

The players of the drama:
The Captain of the plane. He ..ahem .. steps out from the cockpit to answer nature’s call.

The First Officer, who has just been served tea by the air hostess, realizes that it lacks sugar. So also steps out from the cockpit to ask her for the same.

The twist in the tale:
The door of the cockpit slams shut while both the gentlemen are outside and the plane is peacefully cruising on auto pilot.

The additional twist in the tale:
The cockpit doors apparently cannot be opened ordinarily from outside (in mid-flight) to prevent hijacking attempts.

The small window of opportunity:
The pilots are trained about a super secret method of opening the cockpit door exactly for eventualities like this one.

The small window of opportunity slams shut:
Both the pilots however, have unfortunately forgotten this method.

The solution:
Business class passengers are privileged to see the whole crew of the plane trying to batter down the cockpit door with a food trolley while BOTH the pilots stand outside twiddling their thumbs.

The postscript:
Apparently they WERE successful in opening the door somehow, which is why this is a comedy and not a tragedy.

This story was recounted to me by a friend – whose uncle was on the review board of airlines when this particular case came up. I don’t know anything about flying but I do know I am exceedingly glad I was not a Business class passenger on that particular flight.