|
Brace
For
Impact
We
were at only at 200 feet above the waves when the announcement was made:
"It looks like we're going to have to ditch." That was all
there was to it. Looks like we're going
to ditch. And we started losing more altitude.
I
got into the brace position, with hands behind my legs and my head
resting on my lap. The
lights were turned off to get us used to the dark.
Only the very dim night lights remained.
Everyone was silent and praying.
Everyone braced themselves for impact.
We sat waiting, in silence, waiting, waiting, now, now, and
WHAM!!
It
was a belly whopper! No skipping along the surface.
WHAM!!
More
like WHOP!!
We
hit a mountain of water, belly first.
My
seat held fast but some broke off. The hull split open and a wing
snapped off. Someone flew clear over my head. The sudden sensation of
icy water on my stocking feet terrified me!
Horror! Frigid, frightening horror!
I
popped my seat belt release and jumped out of my seat, reaching for the
emergency window in front of me. In one jerk, I pulled it off the wall.
I was out, one of the first! My God, it was horrible!
The
North Atlantic is cold, so terribly cold that it takes your breath away,
even during the warmest month of the year. The water was so choppy! So
wild and choppy! Beyond belief!
I
could hardly keep my face above the water. I was gasping for air and
groping for my life vest strings. Where were they? My God! Where were
they, those live vest strings? They weren't at my waist as they were on
the plane. They weren't anywhere around my chest. Where the hell were
they?
It
was dark--the water was vicious, totally violent and merciless. It kept
breaking in my face. It was like someone was tossing buckets of water in
my face faster than I could turn away or catch a breath. I was drowning
with my head out of the water!
The
life vest! Those strings! I found the strings -- and none too soon -- up
around my neck, not at my waist. In a very short hiss, I was floating,
but still choking for air.
During
the drill exercises, we were told to get out on the wing in order to
reach the life rafts. Climb out of the emergency window on to the wing.
There are two life rafts in each wing that will open up, and one raft is
in the cabin. I'm out of the window and no wing! The wing broke off on
impact. No rafts!
The
plane was sinking fast. At first I just floundered, thrashing my arms
and legs at the fury of the waves, gasping for air and screaming to God
for help. This wasn't working the way they said it would. I couldn't see
anyone. I was horrified!
Panic stricken! I couldn't breathe. I couldn't keep my head above water
even with the life vest inflated. I couldn't think. I was being
swallowed up by pitch-black, splashing wet air and heart-stopping cold.
All I could do was thrash about wildly and scream for help. There was no
one to help me!
Baggage
popped up around me. Gasoline covered the water and got in my face. It
made me vomit. I grabbed a floating duffel bag and drifted toward the
tail.
The
tail! That distinctive,
evil-looking three-fin tail of the Super Constellation! Its threatening
silhouette loomed in the darkness, seemingly flapping up and down in the
water. But it wasn’t the tail that was jumping up and down. It was the
action of the waves jumping up to slam against it, then dropping away,
out of reach.
It
was an evil illusion. It looked as if the tail was waiting for me to
drift under it for the kill. It was alive and it was out to kill me! I
was horrified. I grabbed it as if to fight it. I was screaming,
screaming for help. And
then, as if flash from out of the darkness, I snapped to my senses. I
gained control. I could think again, just for a second or two, but that
was all I needed. A second or two of clarity. I pushed away from the
tail and a minute later the plane sank into the darkness of the sea.
Lonely Desperation!
It
was so lonely! I could hear distant cries for help, but I couldn't see
anyone. The sea was so
stormy. The waves were so
high and choppy. The tops of the waves were blowing off into my face. I
couldn't keep my head out of the water. I was drowning. I was screaming
for someone to help me, but there was no one near by, not a single
bloody soul!
Then
a flash of light! I saw the raft and started swimming toward it with all
my strength. The waves were
so huge. The raft kept disappearing from view.
Was it for real? Keep
going! The waves kept
breaking in my face. Keep
going! Catch your breath,
but keep going!
A
hundred yards feels like a hundred miles in the angry cold Atlantic.
I was a good swimmer, a strong swimmer! I was Red Cross qualified
and had been a lifeguard for the past five summers. I knew the fastest,
strongest strokes, the ones that kept the head the furthest out of the
water. Still I knew I was drowning. I was a brand new paratrooper, one
of the world's most physically fit! With all that training and all that
stamina, I was drowning, choking, gasping for air. I begged for God to save me.
It was cold and dark and I was dying.
"Help
me God, please help me!" I was screaming.
I
made it to the raft.
The
raft! At last the raft! It was the only one--a 25 man raft for 76 of us.
The
raft was packed. I couldn't get over the side. My clothes were too
heavy, soaked with sea water and gasoline. My muscles were getting cold
and stiff. I was exhausted. I couldn't get over the side of the raft.
The wet rubber was too slippery. The icy waves kept pulling me back …
back into the frigid, blackened ocean. A thousand wet and frozen fingers
were choking me, grabbing at my throat, pulling on my back and
shoulders, pulling me back to the sea!
I couldn't get over the side.
Others
were hanging on to the side of the raft, screaming for help. I couldn't
make out any faces. I was screaming for my own life. Please, please. The
people in the raft just sat there looking at us. Weren't they going to
let us in? Weren't they
going to do anything. Couldn't they hear me screaming. They were going
into shock and couldn't even help themselves.
Then
someone on the inside shouted, "The
raft's too crowded!"
Too
crowded?
The
raft's too crowded?
My
God, the horror! Too crowded! I have to die! No! No! Don't let me die!
I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Help me! Please God help
me!"
At
last, someone reached out and helped me climb over the side of the raft.
Thank God! Thank God! I
finally got in.
Go to ->
[The Raft] - [The
Rescue Ship] - [Ireland at Last]
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