It was going to be an easy day today, only two sectors, 'Red-eye' from Sydney to Adelaide and the last flight of the day back home to Sydney. This was one of the few times that the aircrew and cabin crew flew the same sectors more than once in a day. We had arrived this morning for one day, and were scheduled out on the last flight to leave before the curfew came into force. Julie Paterson, the Cabin Service Manager (CSM) was newly promoted and a little unsure of herself but had handled the crew duties well on the inbound leg. I made a point of complementing her on the smooth way that her crew went about their duties before we left the plane for the hotel and our layover.
"What are your plans for today?"
"I thought that I'd do a little shopping and maybe take in a movie or something, I really just want to relax."
"Why don't we meet for lunch somewhere and we can take in the movie together, if that's okay?"
"I'd like that, I won't be long with my shopping, I just want to get a birthday present for my father. Where do you want to meet?" I suggested that we meet in the shopping mall and decide where we would eat then.
I suggested a hotel lunch but, because of company policy, we were unable to have any alcohol to drink which, to me was fine because I seldom drank. After lunch we walked the short distance to the cinema where I was somewhat disappointed to find no film showing that I was desperate to watch, but, in deference to my companion I agreed to sit through a 'chick flick' which to my surprise, I actually enjoyed.
What I enjoyed even more was Julie's company. The seats in which we sat were those that you could fold up the armrest between seats to form a double width seat. Julie folded it up and during the film rested her hand on my thigh. Several times during the film her hand tightened on my thigh and my cock raised its head with interest. That was as far as we got during the film but as we walked back to the hotel she had no objection to my holding her hand as we walked.
We stopped out front of several shops to look at the window displays and I was pleasantly surprised that she was interested in much the same things as I was, and I was interested in the things she was. We made a small detour to the ABC Shop where I asked about a Telemovie that I had seen several years ago, based on the character 'Dangerous Davies' by Leslie Thomas. There was a more recent series that was more loosely based on the same character but I was interested in the older version. I was disappointed when I was told that this was not listed.
When we got back to the hotel we met a couple of the other crew and had coffee with them in the coffee lounge in the foyer I noticed that the other crew appeared intrigued that we were together and there were questions as to whether this was happenstance or circumstance.
Tim, the First Officer and I had to take the earlier transport to the airport for two reasons, the first being that our pre-flight check took longer than the cabin crew's and the other was that company policy was that outbound flight crews were not to travel on the same transport as the cabin crew in case of accident.
I left the FO in the cockpit to begin the pre-flight checks while I did the walk around to check the exterior of the plane. It looked fine, the ground engineer was still plugged into it and walked around with his earphones on doing his checks. I climbed the stairs and walked into the cockpit, "How is she?" I asked Tim.
"Looking good, the Met report is for a smooth flight, no turbulence, clear all the way in."
Even though the cockpit door was locked for security reasons we could hear the noise of the passengers boarding, which was good, it meant that we should, failing a non-boarding passenger that would result in the unloading of baggage, get away on time.
The ground crew gave us the 'all clear', which meant that all checked in passengers were on board and we got our clearance to push back from the terminal and taxi out to the runway. The cabin crew went through the safety drill and prepared the passengers for takeoff.
As we lined up in the queue waiting our turn to takeoff I clicked the intercom button. "Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, welcome aboard flight 789 to Sydney. My name is Mitchell Underwood and your First Officer is Tim Henderson, we have just spoken to the Met Bureau and we have clear skies all the way, we do not expect to encounter any turbulence and can expect a smooth flight. We have a slight tailwind and, unless we were placed in a holding pattern, we will arrive at our destination on time. The temperature in Sydney is currently 20 degrees but will probably be a couple of degrees cooler by the time we get there. No smoking is allowed on this flight and this includes the toilets. Please observe the seat belt warning lights. On behalf of the crew and myself I trust that you have an enjoyable flight."
The takeoff couldn't have been easier, we climbed smoothly to our operational ceiling and Tim and I engaged the auto pilot and got ready to relax until it was time to descend. I looked out of the cockpit window and could make out the lights of small towns that we flew over en route. This was to be a milk run and I was looking forward to getting into my new sports car for the drive home through the hills.
We were about a third of the way into the flight when the intercom crackled into life, it was Julie, "Captain we have a problem, one of the passengers has collapsed, and we suspect a heart attack. We have commenced CPR but he's still not breathing properly."
"Okay, get the refreshment cart stowed away, let me know as soon as that happens, keep the CPR going, we're turning back." I flicked the intercom switch, "This is the captain speaking, we have a medical emergency on board and we are turning back to Adelaide. I would appreciate it if you remain seated and allow the crew to carry on with their work, they are all trained in first aid and, unless there is someone among you who has medical training that would benefit this situation please do not interfere."
I contacted air traffic control, "This flight 789 on route to Sydney, we have a medical emergency and have turned around. I would request priority landing clearance, and a Cardiac Retrieval Unit standing by at the security gate. When we land I will taxi to the apron adjacent to that gate, if we could have a passenger lift on stand-by to take the passenger off, we will offload him before taxiing back to the terminal. Our ETA is thirty minutes, please confirm."
I was given the appropriate clearances and contacted flight operations to advise them of the situation and arrange transport to take those passengers who needed to, to a hotel as we would not be able to, because of the curfew, take off again tonight.
The landing was smooth and I could see the flashing red and blue lights of the waiting ambulance at the security gate, beside it stood the scissor lift so that the paramedics could lower the stretcher safely to the ground. As I manoeuvred down the taxiway I could make out a ground controller waving his two illuminated batons to guide me to our parking position. I stopped and the wheels were chocked while the evacuation procedures were carried out.
The operation to evacuate the passenger and his wife went quickly and smoothly. A tug was hitched and dragged our plane to our bay at the terminal and the passengers disembarked. For the first time that I could remember there were no complaints from the other passengers about having to turn back or having to stay overnight. Before we left the plane I caught up to Julie, "How does it look?"
"He had resumed breathing unaided and his condition had stabilised by the time we got him off so I'm pretty confident he'll be fine."
"That's great! I wanted to congratulate you and your crew for the fine way you handled the emergency, it's not the kind of thing you want to happen on your first day as CSM."
It took some time to shut the plane down, the ground crew had already cleared the galley and begun cleaning the cabin by the time we walked down the tube to the terminal. Operations called me as we were walking through the terminal to our transport with an update on the passenger's condition. He was in a stable condition in hospital and they were confident that he would make a full recovery. They also passed on the thanks of the passenger's wife, who had spoken to them to compliment the crew on their outstanding handling of the situation. "Julie," I said as we boarded the crew bus, "Do you think I can have a word with your crew?"
