BRACE, BRACE, BRACE!

On the first day of August 1993, I had a reasonably early start, and it was going to be a long hard day. Duty time was rostered at 10 hours and 45 minutes in length, and we were going to be doing 6 sectors up and down the country.

The crew was a good one with Leanne working down the back with me and Deidre and Megan working up the front. We were all similar in nature and we knew each other well. Leanne had only been working as a flight attendant for six weeks but despite being a ‘newbie’ she was a great worker and full of common sense. We got on well.

The flight was full as we had a lot of people who had just arrived in off the direct flight from London and we also had the New Zealand Colts on board – a junior national rugby team. The flight was going to Wellington first before heading to Christchurch and many people filed on looking jetlagged and exhausted from their previous flight from London. Conversation was muted and being a Saturday morning flight, there was a lack of the all too familiar rustle of businessmen and their morning papers.

The flight was uneventful and after the service we stowed away the galley gear, cleared the cabin and sat down to await landing.

I was sitting by the rear door and Leanne was beside me with a view up the aisle and we chatted quietly as the B737 made its final approach into Wellington from the north.

I glanced out the window to see that we were very close to the runway but still over the water. I turned to continue our conversation when all of a sudden, the engines roared into life and we leapt towards the sky, landing gear retracting as though we had just taken off.

Leanne gripped my hand and looked at me wide eyed. This was her first overshoot, and it is a scary experience for anyone. I hated overshoots. One little word would flash repeatedly through my mind – WHY? It was not a situation that you could be given prior warning about, and we Flight Attendants would only know that an overshoot was occurring, never that it was going to occur.

I was curious as to why we had overshot as the weather was perfect. The only reason why I had experienced overshoots in the past was if the landing conditions were just too bad – because the Tech Crew couldn’t see the runway or the winds too severe.

Something else was up.

We continued to climb away from the earth and eventually the engines settled into cruise mode and the Tech Crew (Chris and Trevor) chimed for the Purser to go forward and talk with them. We got out of our harnesses and stood in the galley awaiting news.

After a while, Deidre came down the back and advised that our nose gear could possibly have failed, and the Tech Crew were working on the problem. We were going to do a low level overfly along the runway so that the ground engineers could get a visual on our gear to see whether it had come down or not.

The Captain came on the P.A and talked the passengers through what had taken place so far and what he intended to do next. We went through the cabin once again to double check bags before we sat down again and got into our harnesses.

We listened carefully as the landing gear was lowered, and we approached the airport once again. This time instead of trying to land, we flew very low and slow along the runway and we could see a gaggle of men on the side of the runway, hands shading eyes and squinting up at us, inspecting our underbelly as we flew along at a slow 300kph. We roared away into the sky again to gain the safety that is always found in altitude. Shortly, it was confirmed to us that the nose gear was indeed stuck in its wheel well.

The Captain advised the passengers over the P.A that he was about to put the aircraft through some unusual manoeuvres to try and shake the gear out of its resting place.

First, we seemed to wobble from side to side as he rapidly dipped each wing and yawed us across the sky, then we did a series of swoops and dives before we flew low over the airport again for a visual update. The engineers reported back that the nose gear had partially come out but was nowhere near fully extended or locked into place.

Once again, we roared back up to a safe altitude and the Tech Crew were totally consumed with how to get us on the ground safely. Leanne and I once again got out of our seat and walked up and down the cabin making eye contact with people and answering any questions to the best of our limited ability. Some people were beginning to get anxious, and others were simply annoyed that we were now late, and they were missing connecting flights.

Deidre came down the back and told us quietly what was going on and that it was likely that we would have to prepare for an emergency landing. She asked us to get our vital action cards out and review them and to double check the galley was safely stowed. She then went forward to find out more information from the captain. Other than a brief stricken look that passed quickly over Leanne’s face initially, she got stuck into the immense job ahead of us.

Eventually, the Captain declared a ‘Full Prepared Emergency’.

Goose bumps instantly flared along my arms! This was a very exciting and scary development. We were going to have to prepare the cabin and passengers for a possible crash landing! I had been waiting for this since 1987 – six years!

The Captain came on the P.A and spoke about the problem. He explained that the landing could be different compared to normal and that he would now pass over the P.A to the Purser, Deidre. He explained that all her instructions were to be obeyed and that the next thing the passengers would hear from the flight deck would be the words ‘Brace, Brace, Brace’ – the signal to prepare for a possible crash landing.

As he spoke with a great authority, my nerves tingled, and I couldn’t believe how fortunate I was to be in this situation. I was thrilled to pieces!

(Hello. Much older Melissa here. The reason I saw this simply as an adventure is because prior to this point in my life - I was 27 when this happened - I had gone through some unbelievably huge and tough life events and had developed robust survival and coping skills. I appreciate that for most people - crew and passengers alike - this was a horrible situation they found themselves in).

We put our jackets on and fastened them properly as this was part of our emergency protocols. The uniform jacket had fire retardant material to give us some protection.

We tried to read the vital action cards which are meant to be a written reminder of our required actions, but we were too hyped up to read the words. Eventually we threw them away and just got on with the jobs at hand from memory. We trained every year for exactly this scenario, and we had to get 100% in the annual exams to keep flying as a Flight Attendant. We knew what to do as well as we knew how to breathe.

Deidre spoke to the passengers. She stood in the aisle so everyone could see her. She explained that we were going to do the safety demonstration again and that everybody needed to watch closely. She also explained that we would come through the cabin and check that everybody was prepared as much as possible for the landing and she reassured young mothers and the elderly that people would be designated to help them evacuate if necessary. She also reiterated that any instructions given by us MUST be obeyed.

Never in our flying career did we have such a devoted bunch of passengers watch our safety demonstration! Every eye was glued on us and you could have heard a pin drop. We over emphasized the motions regarding the location of the doors and pointing out the emergency lighting.

Deirdre went on to explain that once the ‘Brace’ command had been given, the passengers would need to adopt the brace position. We demonstrated the brace position. Then she explained that one of two commands would then be given once the aircraft had come to a complete halt. “Remain seated” would be given if we were safe or “Evacuate, evacuate” if we had to get out in a rush.

She finished her P.A saying that the next words they would hear over the P.A would be the “Brace, Brace, Brace!” command from the flight deck.

The passengers appeared to be in shock, particularly those who had been complaining about our late arrival just a few minutes earlier.

Once the emergency had been declared, Wellington Airport closed to all air traffic. All civilians were evacuated out of the buildings into the carparks and the roads between the airport and the hospital were closed. Wellington’s entire fleet of ambulances was summoned to the airport as were extra fire-engines. The day to day needs of the city were to be met by the Lower Hutt supply of emergency services.

All company crew and employees were brought airside to act as supporters and assistants for whatever event unfolded.

High in the sky, we were oblivious to all these preparations taking place on the ground. We had our work cut out making sure that 100 passengers were ready for whatever landing we were going to have.

We went down the aircraft row by row, demonstrating the brace position and getting everyone in that row to show us they could do it. We then got them to remove their glasses, false teeth, and pens from their chest pockets. We got men to unfasten ties and top buttons on their shirts and loosen their belts. Ladies needed to remove high heeled shoes and remove necklaces and loosen any belts. We made sure people had counted rows of seats to their nearest exit. (BTW, the reason for this is so if the cabin is full of smoke, or you can’t see for some reason – ie, injury or nighttime – you can find the emergency exit by feel).

We positioned volunteers at the over wing emergency exits and briefed them on their operation. We also moved single men to sit with the elderly and infirm and to assist mothers with children. We picked able bodied people to sit near us and showed them how to operate our doors – just in case we couldn’t.

During this phase, an off duty Captain from another airline made himself known and he was asked by our Tech Crew to come forward to the flight deck to assist.

As Wellington’s airspace had been closed, we had the whole sky to ourselves and the B737 flew long, low loops around the city as we burnt off excess fuel, and the Tech Crew worked feverishly to lower and lock the errant nose gear.

The passengers could see all developments at the front of the aircraft as by necessity the flight deck door was open. When we looked forward all we could see was the butt end of the off duty Captain as he kneeled on the floor and furiously manually cranked the gear down and into place. The Captain was busy liaising with the ground crew and making sure that all assistance was going to be available once we attempted our landing.

Once we had spoken with every person and repositioned the volunteers, we next went through the cabin opening all the lockers and getting out all the blankets, pillows and jackets we could find. These were distributed to people to give some protection to the head and body when they assumed the brace position. We also insisted that all hand luggage that was under the seats be handed to us to stow in the overhead lockers.

We acted calmly and professionally, after all, we knew exactly what needed doing and most importantly we had to make sure this frightened group of people trusted us and believed in our ability to save them should the landing turn to custard. We made eye contact and smiled at people as their worried eyes searched our faces for any sign of fear.

Hand on heart, I felt no fear at all, just a feeling of exhilaration as the moment I had practiced all these years for was actually coming to pass. I had briefly wondered if I would see my young daughters again, but I believed 100% in my aircraft and the men who flew it; and I knew with my whole heart that my workmates were the best I could have wished to have with me in this situation. I also knew that it was better to have a nose gear failure rather than a main gear failure. I was reasonably confident in the outcome.

Eventually we cleared the cabin for the last time. The aircraft and its people were as ready as they ever could be, and the time had come to attempt the landing. Deidre let the Captain know the cabin was ready.

Leanne and I went to our seat, removed our shoes, and fastened ourselves into our harnesses as tightly as possible.

Our work had barely begun as the hardest bit was about to start and both Leanne and I sat in our seat with our hearts beating against our chests. This was the first time either of us were about to do what we had prepared so thoroughly for.

I watched carefully out of our little porthole as the plane made its approach from the north. We were coming down at a shallow angle and soon, on both sides of the aircraft we could see the twin headlands that announced our imminent landing.

“BRACE, BRACE, BRACE!”

The command from the flight deck was calm and carried immense authority.

As one, all passengers and Flight Attendants went into their brace position and we hosties started to shout continuously as loud as we could -

“KEEP DOWN! STAY DOWN! BRACE, BRACE, BRACE!”

Over and over again we shouted. My throat stung, my eyes watered and my ears vibrated with the noise and effort of our shouting - shouting is rather unnatural for adult women and it took huge courage to use our voices so loudly. We seemed to shout for such a long time that I wondered why on earth we weren’t actually landing.

The passengers were silent and although our view of them was restricted by their seats now they had all braced, we could feel every one of them willing the plane to land safely. I imagined that the combined energy of all those tense muscles and rapid heart rates would have kept a small city lit for a few hours.

It eventually became apparent that we had touched down on the runway. The main gear had smoothly and gently touched down and I stopped yelling just long enough to see if I could feel the point when the nose gear would touch the ground. The Tech Crew held the nose off the ground for as long as possible and It was too imperceptible to feel, and I continued my shouts for people to stay down.

The engines roared as the clam shell reversers engaged and the plane came to a smooth halt on the runway. We were being chased by multiple fire engines and as they caught up with us, they huddled protectively around us.

Outside, men in various uniforms were running everywhere, and the idea of headless chickens randomly popped into my mind briefly. We stopped shouting, but we were listening with intense concentration to find any clue as to what was going to happen next. Every nerve in our bodies were poised for evacuation and flight should it be necessary. The aircraft was stationary, but no command came from the flight deck.

Within seconds Deidre came on the PA and asked everyone to remain seated.

It had the opposite effect. Suddenly the cabin was full of standing, cheering passengers all congratulating each other and there were heaps of back slapping and hugging of complete strangers. So much for staying seated. A queue rapidly formed for the toilets, so it was obvious that relief also meant a full bladder!

Deidre quickly maintained order by asking again that people remain seated and await further instructions.

We sat on the runway for some time before taxiing slowly into the terminal. As we began to move, Deidre was composed enough to welcome us all to Wellington as though it had been a normal landing. During the entire taxi, the cabin was full of garrulous jocularity. It was the happiest bunch of passengers I had ever seen. Everyone was everyone else’s best friend. We wanted to go and share their joy and talk with them but as our situation was by no means a secure one, we had to remain safely strapped into our harnesses.

The nose gear was not locked into place and could still collapse at any time, and with that in mind, the aircraft taxied very slowly, ushered in by the gaggle of protective little fire engines which had already had an exciting day, racing down the length of the runway trying to catch a B737 – extinguishers at the ready.

Our emergency was over and even though Leanne and I felt exhilarated at our success and felt ready for anything, the call was made to stop working for the day and go home.

As we mingled with our fellow crew in the crew room while waiting for a flight to take us back to Auckland, we heard the tearful stories of the crew who sat – or rather paced – in the departure lounges watching us as we circled. They felt impotent and fretted for our safety. On the other hand, we had simply been too busy to fully appreciate the danger we were in as we had too many things on our minds.

I learned a big lesson that day; the feeling of powerlessness, or lack of control, that a bystander can have, can be far more distressing than being a victim suffering a critical event.

This would come to mean a lot to me in future years. (I became an Ambulance Officer once I left the airline.)

Post Script – John and I were travelling home from overseas, a few years back, and our B777 Captain happened to be Chris – who had been the Captain for this event. At the end of the flight, he and I reminisced about that day. He said something quite remarkable – something I had never thought about, either at the time or since.

For him, the scariest moment of the entire adventure had been when we had come to a halt on the runway. He couldn’t shut down the engines as the nosewheel would definitely have failed, but he was scared that someone on the ground, around the aircraft, could get sucked into the engines as they milled around or worked on the nose gear so we could taxi into the terminal. Quite a horrific thought really…

The Importance of Watching the Safety Briefing - Every Time!

The reason why you are asked to pay attention to the safety briefing on every flight you take is because in time of sudden shock, your long term memory recall fails. You can only recall fairly immediate events. The passengers on this flight had the luxury of time - to be fully prepared and to have the hosties tell them again how to keep safe and how best to evacuate. In a sudden emergency - such as an explosive decompression or something uncontrollable happening on take off or landing - you’re on your own. Your survival will depend on knowing what to do without someone telling you.

Why do you go into the Brace Position?

When you get down into the Brace Position, you are as far forward as your seatbelt will let you go and your body is less likely to flail around with any erratic and violent movement of the aircraft - so you are better prepared for the sudden deceleration of impact. At impact, the seat backs are designed to fold over your back. This protects you from flying debris during the deceleration until the aircraft comes to a rest.