“Here, at the farthest end on the world, lay an enchanted but deeply melancholic land.” — Giles Milton: Samurai William
The watching of a tape inadvertently made of an Airbus A-320 almost crashing with around 130 souls on board brought to mind my own brush with disaster when my Air Canada 767 aborted a takeoff at Kansai airport (Osaka) and blew all its tires. Blew all its tires! I know it may not seem to be that scary, but let me beg to differ. Every time my airplane does anything beyond normal, it is grounds for serious worry -- even for me who has flown literally thousands of times.
Gotta say, I was terrified (but it's still 100 times safer than the ride to the airport).
But now reading Samurai William and realizing that it took William Adams (the model for Blackthorne in James Clavell’s Shogun) TWO YEARS to reach Japan from Europe, with about 5% of his original crew left — most had died by shipwreck, attacks by various hostile natives and disease — it makes an aborted landing or takeoff look, really petty in terms of risk. Sure, I was terrified, but only for about an hour. And it only takes about 24 hours from Montreal to Nippon for me . . .
All of those guys must have been terrified for two years straight!
And when I go to Bordeaux, France next week for a month’s stay to be with my honey, I know (well, at least hope) I won’t be greeted by hostile natives . . . or gale-force winds.
Fingers crossed, but in my pockets.
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