Back at my seat, I heard the captain's voice come over the PA system: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Klein speaking. Due to a minor mechanical malfunction, we'll need to make an unscheduled stop at London's Heathrow Airport to have it repaired. In the meantime, please be sure your safety belts are securely fastened and your seats are in an upright position. We're preparing to land and should arrive at Heathrow in approximately thirty minutes. At that time, all passengers and crew will need to disembark until the mechanics are finished. This is merely a safety precaution. The good news is we'll be refueling at the same time, eliminating our refueling stop in Rome. I'm sorry for the inconvenience and please be assured, there is no cause for alarm. "

While making their last minute routine safety checks, the flight attendants awakened the passengers who had been sleeping during the captain's announcement, while assuring a few nervous ones there was no need to be concerned.

As we began our descent, Captain Klein made another announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing in about ten minutes. You will see emergency vehicles on the runway, but this is just a routine precaution that all airports are required to observe by international law. Again, no reason for alarm."

It was a good thing the captain had made that announcement. As we approached the runway, it looked like the lights from the emergency vehicles outnumbered the runway lights! I was the only passenger who had a clue as to what was really going on, other than the sky marshal and the terrorist himself. For the sake of Maggie and the children, I steeled myself to act unconcerned. My mind was racing though. What if the bomb would detonate when we landed? Or . . . I stopped myself before I could think of any other "what ifs."

By this time, the flight attendants had informed the passengers that shuttle busses would be waiting to take them to the terminal while the repairs were in progress. They also explained that in order to expedite things, four doors in the coach section and two in first class would be opened with ladders rolled up to each door. They gave us explicit instructions as to what doors to use.

Once the jumbo jet reached a complete stop, everything moved with lightning speed. Airplane doors were quickly opened, stairways appeared as if by magic, and the flight crew hustled the passengers out as quickly as they could without causing a panic.

At the bottom of the stairs on the left rear of the plane, Scotland Yard officials were waiting for the sky marshall and his prisoner.

We emerged from the left first class door, and at the bottom of the steps toward the left rear of the plane, I saw the Scotland Yard officials. As the sky marshal appeared with the prisoner, they were whisked away immediately.

The passengers were herded directly to the shuttle busses. As we waited for our bus to fill up and move, I looked at the scene on the runway. If I hadn't known better, I'd have sworn I was at the scene of a disaster with the rescue squad. I also knew there was more emergency equipment on the other side of the plane. The Brits sure don't fool around, I thought.

One truck looked much like an armored car. I suspected it was probably the bomb squad's vehicle. A group of men with a leashed German Shepherd stood close by, and I couldn't help but wonder if any of the other passengers suspected the truth. Josh was a very observant boy but hadn't said anything, so my guess was no one had caught on. I was happy when our bus finally moved toward the terminal. I wanted my family as far away as possible from that airplane.

As we settled in the waiting area, I heard a soft "Whomp" followed by a gentle shaking of the building and rattling of the windows. Although I didn't hear most of the noise from the blast, because of the distance and soundproofed waiting room, I saw the flames roiling up and knew what had happened. I could see by some of the passenger's expressions they were putting two and two together, connecting the explosion with our current situation. There was a lot of excited chatter among them and the flight crew was doing their best to calm them down.

Among the passengers and crew, there were over two hundred people from our flight in this room including the three most important people in my life. What if that "voice" hadn't warned me? I shuddered to think what might have happened.








Continue to Chapter 26


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