A fortnight ago I was in Accra on a routine consulting engagement. This time around, as part of project closure, i was to go back and deliver a management presentation at board level. Naturally when I travel, i attempt making all bookings myself so as to forestall any unforeseen complication. However, this time, the client made the necessary arrangements from the flight ticket booking to hotel reservation. The flight was scheduled for 7.25 a.m. Monday. Being an international flight, passengers are typically expected to check in at least two hours before boarding. As I live on the Island, it meant that I will have to leave my house at 5 a.m. if I had any hope of making it to the airport for 5.30 a.m. I called on my trusted mechanic to show up on Monday morning to take me to the airport and subsequently service the car while I was away.

Well, I got to the airport at about 5.42 a.m. and headed straight for the check-in counter. There was already a fairly long queue of passengers waiting to be attended to. I make it that there were about 20 people. So I filled the relevant form, paid for the yellow fever certificate (as if I needed one) and joined the queue. I like to travel light (mainly with one carry-on luggage) and this occasion was no different. I had my laptop bag, an extra shirt and pair of pants for the following day's activities since I was just going to spend a night - essentially i had no luggage to check in. Within seconds, I made my way to the computer assisted passenger profiling system, on to the metal detector for the usual security check and baggage inspection. I noticed the newly installed X-ray machine with multiple scanning beams as my luggage was scanned. I then gazed at the gate information display system for directions to Gate 33. I finally found my way to the departure lounge where I eventually settled down. The temperature was rather on the high side so was the number of passengers waiting to board planes to various destinations. I slipped out my laptop to review some mind maps all in an attempt to pass time.

Eventually at 7.33 a.m. there was a rather vague announcement, almost incoherent. "All passengers on Aerik Air Flight AK 123 to Accra, Ghana should proceed for boarding" (not real airline and flight names). It was a dull female voice and she repeated it a couple more times. I closed the lid of my notebook , tucked it away and made for the boarding counter for the last verification and screening exercise before eventually making for the jet way. As I walked via the specially constructed aerobridge tunnel that led straight from the terminal to the aircraft, I was greeted with a warm and friendly smile from one of the in-flight attendants. I flashed my boarding pass and she said "15F, straight down to your left sir!" and I replied "Thank you".

In almost all cases when boarding a plane, I make sure I observe the flight deck and the array of layered navigational controls. Its always amazing. Anyways, I walked down the aisle whilst keeping an eye on the seat labels. I eventually found 15F, only that it was occupied by an immaculate and stunningly beautiful damsel. She was breath taking and aesthetically mind blowing to say the least. She exuded grace and class from every pore. If my day was good, it was about to get even better. Or so I thought. I was still trying to organize my thoughts when she smiled and asked if she was occupying my seat. I smiled and nodded whilst opening the overhead compartment to place my luggage. As she was trying to adjust and switch, I signaled for her to stay put. I then asked to see her boarding pass where I saw 15D inscribed. 15F is actually the aisle seat close to the walkway while 15D is the window seat. I moved over to her seat. She later told me that she didn't fancy the window seat.

This little passage of events gave me an opportunity to engage this otherwise gorgeous chick. Trust a young man to act (or in this case try to act!). I found out her name to be Olga, a Ghanaian and University of Ghana final year Economics student. She had on a look of glowing radiance. She was picture perfect and very easy on the eye. We quickly got talking about the perceived similarities and differences between Nigerians and Ghanaians. We chatted a lot about, err, "much ado about nothing". We were however interrupted by the voice of the captain who announced that the plane would be taking off shortly. I managed to over hear that the flight time would be 40 minutes and would be cruising at an altitude of 31,000 feet above sea level. Furthermore, we were advised to switch off all mobile and electronic devices.

One functional piece of gear or device, if you will, that I travel with is a wrist altimeter. It's sort of like a watch with built-in aneroid barometer that can be used to measure atmospheric pressure at an altitude above sea level. I equip myself with it anytime I am boarding a plane. As I heard the altitude announcement, I engaged the device. It needs a baseline to be set from which all other measurements will then be taken. Olga noticed what I was doing and I explained to her thus: "Its just my own way of observing how high or low we are (in the air) at any point in time". She smiled. Lastly, final safety rituals were performed by the in-flight attendants before take off.

It was a lovely day, filled with blue skies and bright light. At exactly 8.02 a.m. the aircraft started to taxi along the left wing runway of the MMA International . The inner lights were dimmed as we prepared for take off.

The aircraft was propelled on the way to Accra in a blur of massive energy. The wheels-up was pretty smooth and easy. I viewed the retractable movements of the different components of the wing as we took off. In fact my window seat happened to be directly overlooking the right wing of the aircraft. In particular, I was able to spot roll control through the ailerons as well as plane slats and flaps as they were deployed downward to increase the amount of horizontal force produced by the wings. When the spoilers were activated on the right wing, I saw as the plates flipped up into the air stream. I was in awe of the technology. I then looked at the cross-section of passengers, only then did I realize it was at best half full. I could see pockets of empty seats across the fuselage.

I glanced at my watch and it was 8.10 a.m. We were firmly in the air now and judging by the altimeter reading, cruising at an approximate altitude of 15,500 ft. My attention once again shifted to Olga. As if by design, she turned and asked if this was my first time in Ghana. I promptly replied, "Its only my second time". We continued chatting for a while (to be honest i can't remember details now) and a few minutes later, the flight attendants had started serving in-flight meals. I took a bottle of water and a piece of cake, while Olga settled for juice and croissant. Just as this was happening, we heard a very loud sound that seemed to have emanated from underneath the plane which caused a slight but noticeable shift in the trajectory of the aircraft and by extension, the passengers. A few eye brows were raised - in fact more than just a few eye brows were raised. It felt like the aircraft had come in contact with a large air porthole!

Soon after, we heard this. "This is Captain Akin Hassan (not real names) with the new weather report from the control center. The weather is overcast and rainy with a chance of heavy thunderstorm. Temperatures will be in the low 20s. There will be a short delay in arrival as a result of bad weather conditions in Accra. The 'fasten seat belt' sign has been turned on for your safety and we expect all passengers to remain seated at this point. Thank you"

Huh!

There was complete and utter silence. You could almost hear the sound of it. Two flight attendants (female) continued serving food and drinks, almost oblivious to goings-on, while a third (male) paraded the aisle to ascertain proper seating positions and seat belt usage. "What was that?" Olga quizzed. "Minor turbulence I suspect". Sure I didn't sound overly convincing, neither did I say it with any conviction. One quick glimpse at the watch and it was 8.17 a.m. About 15 minutes in the air. This time we were on all of 31,050 ft above sea level. The plane had seemingly stabilized, or had it?

Almost immediately, we heard another loud thud, this time, it appeared to have originated from the front of the fuselage. It was earth shattering and caused another considerable shift - this time both within and outside the aircraft. "Holding Pattern…Holding Pattern", said a voice from the cockpit area. The plane started rattling. It was loud.

There was a synchronous, almost an orchestrated blurting out of "Jesus" from just about every passenger on board. This made the flight attendants retract to the tail of the plane. All we heard was "remain calm …remain calm". This was to be the last significant command from the cockpit area. Olga and I briefly made eye contact, then she asked what was happening and what we were going to do. I had no clue. I was unsettled and in utter consternation. I then stared out of the window only for me to see the shocker of my life…the wings which were hitherto parallel to the earth's surface had somehow created an acute angle. This portends only one thing. The plane had gradually started to nose dive.

Torrential strong wind and lightning were hammering down and making it difficult for any sort of in-flight maneuvering. The howl of the wind made me restless. I glanced at the altimeter, we were down to 29,825 ft. "The plane is on the way down" I motioned to Olga. I looked round, people were already nervous and crying. Some had started throwing up. It was getting darker and we were surrounded by millions of lightning flashes and enormous turbulence. I was also getting progressively nervous. Another quick look at the altimeter and it read 27,465. We were going down faster than the speed of thought. I muttered a small word of prayer.


Just as I was thinking of the next step, another huge thump came upon us. This time, all hell broke loose. There was turmoil, upheaval, commotion, pandemonium …(and these words are not even enough). We were hanging on "like a child’s dislodged milk tooth twisting on the slenderest slice of gum". There was significant lateral movement of the plane because of the heavy cross winds. Some passengers' seats (mainly in front) had been ripped off by the force of the impact. It became an exercise in perpetual motion within the confines of the fuselage. The plane was loosing altitude and there was subsequent gain in the cabin air pressure. Chaos and mayhem ensued. There was major outcry from kids in the plane. Somehow I managed to sight a slowpoke, an idiot who got to the emergency exit to force the door open. Those doors were not designed to be opened mid air. Emergency exits open inward, and pressurized air in the plane makes it impossible to open them in mid-flight. Safety hatches and exit doors can only be opened when depressurized. If one were to open it in this way, one could be forcibly ejected due to the force of external pressure. He subsequently gave up.

It even became obvious that the communications controls in the plane had stopped working. It was at this junction that I switched on my cell phone. I immediately thought of placing a call home to intimate my mum of this unfortunate air mishap. Contrary to popular belief that mobile phone signals can interfere with in-flight navigational controls, it cannot. The only reason why they tell you to switch off your phones in the plane is because a cell phone would change cell towers too quickly and you probably won't be billed for the call. You're actually more likely to get good coverage from a plane than from the ground. You have line of sight to many more towers and there's basically nothing in the way like trees and buildings and such. However, you are also interfering with communication for most of those towers that you can reach. In fact is there is more coverage at 31,000 ft than at any other time - but I digress. Just when I was trying to recall my mum's number from contact list, I immediately noticed something else developing under the right wing - it was bright orange with a slight mix of yellow accompanied by thick black smoke….FIRE!

From what I could immediately discern from my position in the aircraft, it looked more like one of the cargo doors had sort of detached which subsequently caused big time explosive decompression. The plane had rapidly entered a steep and downward slope. We were descending faster than ever. I looked around and I could hear all sorts of expletives… "Blood of Jesus"… "Holy Spirit"…"Jesus"…."Deliver us"…."Allahu Akbar", "Lai Lah Illah Lah", "Take Control"…, "E gbami oh" …"Oluwa", "Olorun", These were obviously based on different religious leanings - even some that I couldn't even hear or make sense of. Olga held my hands tightly and was praying fervently, sweating and crying. There were lots of loud cross-talk amongst passengers. Helpless kids screaming and rolling on the floor, the overhead luggage compartment had flung open and the content scattered all over. Everything was in disarray. It was crazy. It was one massive hullabaloo. The plane was still ploughing down at several hundred miles an hour, driven by unexpected turbulence and forced down that route by the earth's gravitational pull. Even now the altimeter was reading 15,005 ft. I sensed that the end was nigh. Just within a split second, my whole life had flashed in front of me…all the dreams and aspirations of becoming a world beater…this couldn't be real. I realized that everything in life pales into microscopic insignificance in the face of huge catastrophe.

Seeing that the fire had stemmed from the wings, I beckoned to Olga in a "stratospheric" effort to muscle in on the emergency exit pathway. To make matters worse, I was beginning to smell jet fuel and it was spreading rapidly. More confusion supervened even as the oxygen masks deployed. It became a desperate struggle for survival. Almost all conscious passengers had moved to the middle third section of the aircraft. We were still in mid air and the fire was raging even more now. The in-flight attendants also appeared to have been thrown into deep confusion and were in a precarious circumstance. I reckoned that some women and children had lost control and fainted at this point. Olga held on tightly to me as we navigated our way in the pitch blackness of the aircraft past the mass of mortal wounds lying on the deck.

As we finally crawled our way to the emergency exit door, what was to become a grand explosion occurred. It was tempestuous and deafening. It was so loud that for the first time I feared the worst. It sounded and felt like a time bomb. Just as this happened, I stopped feeling Olga's holding hands. I called out to her, but no reply. The only voices I could hear sounded like displaced echoes. We had been separated. The floor was fast ripping apart and several aircraft control cables had become naked. The plane was fast approaching ground zero and this time I couldn't even make out the reading on the barometric altimeter .…The plane was still clattering down with tremendous speed under the weight of massive wind with the fire now spreading in all directions when the unthinkable happened…,

"Beep…Beep…Beep"… my alarm clock had ticked off.