A Plane Crash Survivor's Miraculous True Story: Kenya Airways Flight Kq431: 169 Fatalities, 10 Survivors [Idioma Inglés] - Softcover

Aigbe, Samuel

 
9781452579528: A Plane Crash Survivor's Miraculous True Story: Kenya Airways Flight Kq431: 169 Fatalities, 10 Survivors [Idioma Inglés]
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1452579520 ISBN 13: 9781452579528
Verlag: Balboa Press, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

Samuel Aigbe was one of ten survivors of the Kenya Airways flight KQ431 plane crash over the coast of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 30th January 2000, of which there were 169 fatalities. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria.
In the aftermath of the plane crash, he gained two postgraduate degrees: Master of Arts in Human Rights, Ethics and International Relations; and Master of Law in International Law with International Relations both from The University of Kent, Canterbury.
Samuel Aigbe vividly brings to light the incidents prior, during and after the crash. He shares his life as a testament of the goodness of God that saw him through that gruesome moment in the harmattan (seasonal freezing hazy wind from the Sahara desert), in the dark Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. He recounts how his faith saw him through that dreadful moment, before being fished out by two white French fishermen into their boat.

For more information and ideas, please visit 
www.samuelaigbe.com

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Samuel Aigbe was one of ten survivors of the Kenya Airways flight KQ431 plane crash over the coast of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 30th January 2000, of which there were 169 fatalities. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria. In the aftermath of the plane crash, he gained two postgraduate degrees: Master of Arts in Human Rights, Ethics and International Relations; and Master of Law in International Law with International Relations both from The University of Kent, Canterbury. Samuel Aigbe vividly brings to light the incidents prior, during and after the crash. He shares his life as a testament of the goodness of God that saw him through that gruesome moment in the harmattan (seasonal freezing hazy wind from the Sahara desert), in the dark Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. He recounts how his faith saw him through that dreadful moment, before being fished out by two white French fishermen into their boat.

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A Plane Crash Survivor's Miraculous True Story

Kenya Airways Flight KQ431: 169 Fatalities, 10 Survivors

By Samuel Aigbe

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2013 Samuel Aigbe
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-7952-8

Contents

Acknowledgement............................................................ix
Preface....................................................................xiii
1. The Flight..............................................................1
2. The Freezing Atlantic Ocean.............................................9
3. Sustained Injuries......................................................19
4. Co-Survivors............................................................25
5. Kenya Airways Safety Record.............................................35
6. Air Crash Statistics....................................................47
7. Flying..................................................................63
8. Survivors Guilt or Why me?..............................................71
9. Aftermath...............................................................77
Epilogue...................................................................83
Bibliography...............................................................87


CHAPTER 1

The Flight


Growing up as a kid like many others, I have always wondered atthe aerodynamics of how a heavy metal object can be suspendedin motion. And therefore I dreaded the thought of flying in oneuntil after my first successful flights in summer of 1997 withCameroon Airlines to Paris via London. Only thereafter wasI comfortable in the sky. Even then, before embarking on ajourney, to ensure myself that the journey might go smoothly,I have engaged in a set of rituals, just in case I did not make itto my destination to make sure my soul is at rest with God. Asa Christian and a Roman Catholic, usually I make sure I am ina state of Grace, that is in communion with God by going toConfession, attending Mass and being at Peace with perceivedaggressor(s).

In one of many flights before the crash of Kenya Airways FlightKQ431, I remember in particular whilst in India on an outboundflight from Mumbai to New Delhi making the sign of the crossafter a silent prayer commending the journey to God for a safeflight and a young woman opposite had a somewhat bizarrelook at me. By chance I ran into her at the Taj Mahal and wascurious why she had looked at me in this way. We got talkingand I found out that she was an Australian and an atheist whowas holidaying alone. Like other atheists she does not belief inthe existence of God and thought that those who do, do it outof ignorance. Knowing that the subject of religion is a sensitiveissue and not wanting to press further in order not to seem tobe super imposing my religious beliefs, I simply and politelymade my views known about the existence of God and swiftlychanged the subject of discourse.

At the close of the 20th Century in December 1999, after thesuccessful completion of my first degree in Political Scienceand Public Administration at the University of Benin, EdoState, Nigeria, I travelled to India as at the time a friend wasstationed in Mumbai. The Indian subcontinent shares a lotof similarities with Nigeria, apart from both countries beingmembers of the Commonwealth as former British colonies. Thesuccess of indirect rule as a system of governance in India bythe British led to its introduction in Nigeria in 1914 where theNorthern and Southern protectorate were almagated.

There is also the polarity between the rich and the poor, thetropical climate, and the diversity in both cultures. I tookadvantage of my visit to explore the rich heritage of the Indiansubcontinent, visited New Delhi, the seat of Government,Mumbai the commercial nerve centre and former capital ofIndia; also I went to Agra where you have the Taj Mahal;Rajasthan – Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and to Udaipur the location ofthe James Bond movie, Octopussy, in 1983.

My misconception and stereotypes were put to rest by thewarmth of the Indian peoples I came across. From the ordinaryperson on the streets, the shop attendants at the shopping mall,the lads at the snooker pool house, to the Parishioners at StSteven Hill Catholic Church Mumbai, I came to fall in lovewith the Indian subcontinent.

For all the wrong reasons (quite unusually for me), the daybefore my departure instead of the usual aforementioned ritualof Confession, Mass, Peace with perceived aggressors and inCommunion with God, the day was spent in a snooker poolhouse, playing all day long. I ended the night in a live jazz bandperformance till about 3am next morning.

By the time I got to the house I barely had time to shower andpack my luggage. I had an early morning flight from Mumbaito Nairobi and from the house to the airport was just about anhour's drive. I was sapped out of energy by the time I got tothe airport; I only managed to summon the strength to keep myeyes open to do the check-in. As soon as I got my boarding passand passed through the security check to the boarding area Islumped in my seat. I almost missed the flight if it had not beenfor the goodwill of co-passengers who prompted me more thanonce when waiting to board the flight. Their intonation soundedlike Nigerians; however, I cannot recollect seeing them at theAirport in Abidjan before the crash.

The flight from Mumbai to Nairobi went smoothly and I cannotreally remember anything much as I was deep asleep for mostof the journey. The flight arrived in Nairobi as scheduled andI proceeded to take the connecting flight bound for Lagosand Abidjan. Everything had been fine with the flight fromMumbai. The correspondence was a connecting flight forpeople travelling from Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa,though most of the passengers were Nigerians, particularlytraders - men and women returning home after a business tripto Dubai.

The flight was on time and was scheduled to have arrived aboutmid-afternoon. It had been smooth until we got to NigerianAirspace when the pilot announced he was getting ready todescend. A couple of minutes later he announced again thatbecause of the harmattan weather conditions, (seasonal hazywinds from the Sahara usually in the Months of December andJanuary), it was impossible to descend due to the fog created bythe winds. We were informed the plane was to stay on hold for45 minutes for the weather conditions to improve for visibility.At that point, having overcome the tiredness from the daybefore and feeling refreshed after sufficient sleep, using myfinger Rosary to keep count, I said ten Our Father and HailMary, commending the flight to God. Feeling a little reliefbut still anxious from not knowing what would become of theflight, I gazed at the clouds wishing for the winds to clear forthe pilot to descend to land.

Due to the poor visibility, the pilot took the decision to bypassLagos for Abidjan - Ivory Coast, with the hope that the fogwould have cleared by the time we got back from Abidjan.Conditions at the Felix Houphouet- Boigny InternationalAirport at Abidjan were appalling, right from the moment wearrived until the time for the return flight to Lagos, whichinvolved a six hours' wait at the airport. The communicationwas non-existent, or at best very poor. We received no form ofrefreshments from the Airline for the long wait. Things seemedto have gone wrong from when we landed.

At the Airport were Nigeria traders, men and women in smallgroups, discussing their trade and calculating the profits ontheir wares. Of particular attention were a group of about fourwomen, one of whom had started her trade in the 1970's. Forher, business was booming. As she held out a gold necklace, alady friend gave her money to buy it, which she did at a goodbargain. The men too were in pairs, equally very happy withpleasant smiles across their faces from what had presumablybeen a successful trip to Dubai. Some had already startedplanning their return trip in couple of weeks. With all thesetales of Dubai as the land of bargain goods I was in no doubtthat sooner or later Dubai would be a nice place to go shoppingfor duty-free goods.

After about six hours of waiting, we boarded Flight KQ431with extra passengers from Abidjan. The plane was full andsome people (including myself) found that our seat had beendouble booked with passengers scouting for where to sit. I wasassigned either seat 9(G) or (H) by the aisle close to Businessor First Class cabin. With the excitement and hope that finallythe nightmare was over and we were flying back to Lagos, Isaid a brief prayer and made the sign of the cross, checking mywrist watch which is a habit I have become accustomed to. Thetake- off was 21:10 local time.

It seemed to have been fine until two minutes just before airborne,when there was an intense vibration, the oxygen mask fell outand then there was a spark in the over cabin. The sequence ofevents happened in seconds, which explained why there was noword of communication from the cabin crew whatsoever. Theplane was nose-diving downwards at the speed of a fraction ofa second. It was like being on a roller coaster in Disney Worldwith people aghast and in panic mode screaming for dear life.The feeling was seeing death in the face and being helpless todo anything to prevent the catastrophe about to befall on us.

Our fate at that time was in the hands of the Creator with peoplescreaming God's name. I had completely surrendered myselfto the grace of God, not knowing what would become of me.Fortunately, for the skill of the pilot, after two subsequent bangsof what seemed like the plane hitting the water, he was able tomanoeuvre the plane to land on its belly. In one of the bangs myright eye was hit against an object, which left it red and swollen.In a miraculous way I was flushed out from the plane.

In the subsequent interviews I gave to the press, I used theanalogy of going to the toilet and flushing the waste afteruse through the drainage pipe to the sewage tank to describehow I came out of the plane. It was like going through a darktunnel with hands clamped to protect one's head deep into thewater and coming back up. Contrary to a widespread pressrelease, the plane did not disintegrate; it was in a single wholeon its belly with light functioning only in the pilot cockpit.Unfortunately, together with the other crewmembers, the pilotdid not survive.

CHAPTER 2

The Freezing Atlantic Ocean


It was pandemonium in the Atlantic Ocean with peoplegroaning in pains and total confusion of what to do. My eyeswere swollen from the bang with an object. For a brief momentI was overcome by fear. Because I could not see, I actuallythought I had lost the use of my sight. The only way I wasable to see later was to position my head or eye at a certainangle until I was able to regain full sight. I saw planes takingoff in the sky thinking they were supposedly coming to ourrescue.

Though conscious all through the period of the accident, for abrief time I actually thought I had died. Because of the shockof the accident I could not believe that I had just survived thegruesome impact of the crash. So using my sensory organs,particularly my hands, I made conscious signs to assure myself Ihad real life in me. I was alive and I had just done the impossibleby surviving the plane crash. I could see the plane on its belly.Lights were on only in the cockpit and it was gradually sinking.I tried to swim further away from the plane ashore to minimiseforeseeable impact of the plane going up in flames.

The further I tried to swim from the plane and the nearer Ithought I was to the shore, the further offshore I went. While itis fair to say that some people died from the impact of the crash,others were trapped in their seat with their belts on. Manypeople indeed survived the impact of the crash, but later diedas a result of the delayed response of the Airport Authoritiesin sending rescuers or allowing the local fishermen who werewilling to use their boat for rescue operations.

The local fishermen were stopped because according to theauthorities they would have looted our belongings. This begsthe question, what is more important, saving the lives of thepeople that were dying or going after their property that wasdestroyed in the crash? The help I eventually got from thetwo white French fishermen was more important than losingeverything else, even down to my boxer shorts.

At the time of the crash in the dark freezing Atlantic Oceaneveryone in chorus was calling on God, confessing their sinsaloud, so much that you could tell what somebody did over tenyears ago. We were all praying for a second miracle after thefirst miracle of surviving the impact of the crash. We hopedthat rescuers would come sooner rather than later. Graduallythe groans and moans of pain started to die down until it wasso totally silent that you could hear a pin drop.

A couple of screams to know if there were still others alive metwith no response. I then kept silent, and using my finger rosarystarted to recite the rosary (though incoherently), and a suddenfeeling of calmness came over me. I was now able to thinkstraight and the worry was suddenly taken off my shoulders.My focus was no longer fear of death but how to conserve asmuch energy as possible in order not to wear myself out beforehelp would come.

Being a good swimmer was an added plus for me, though therewere co-survivors who could not swim but survived. I lay onmy back with face up in the water (backstroke) using my handgently to stroke the water. This was a tactic I had practiced inMumbai. I had the thought then that in case I found myself insuch circumstance I should test how long I would be able toendure in the water before help comes. It came readily to mindpicturing the Olympic sized swimming pool in Mumbai; it wasputting into practice what I had already rehearsed.

I was in that position of face up to the heavens and lying onmy back on the water with my hands stroking the waters,conserving much needed energy when luck came my way.There was a piece of foam, which I tucked in between my legsto keep me afloat. My shirt, cardigan and trainers were heavyand impeded my swimming so I took them off to make myselflighter and only left on my trousers and socks. Though tossedfurther offshore by the strong winds, with the support of thefoam I was able to stir the water to stay alive. I was praying andhoping that help would sooner or later come.

In the dark of the Atlantic Ocean, with no clear vision of thewater except for the planes from the airport taking off and thestars lighting up the sky, corpses littered the water. In manyinstances, I had to use my hand to push away from me corpsesthat were right up in my face, redirecting them from me.Under the circumstances then it was a fairly normal thing todo, though it is strange now because I could not have imaginedmyself doing what I did then. For me, it was a life and deathbattle, having done the impossible of surviving the impact ofthe crash. Having managed to survive for several hours afterthe crash, I was determined that I was going to hang in there aslong as I had the strength to keep me alive. I was emboldenedand became fearless.

It was nothing compared to the story of the Andes survivorswho more than 10 days after surviving their crash were forcedto eat the flesh of their dead co-passenger for their survival.I cannot seem to describe something hairy, which roped meabout three times. With each time about to get drowned, Iwould quickly say the Lord's Prayer, which was the constantprayer that was on my lips. Thereafter I would untangle myselfand stay abreast in the water. Also, I do not know what it was,it was like something was using a blade to give me marks onmy body and the saltiness of the water made the cut pepperish.In the face of what for me was a demonic attack I remainedunperturbed, with the Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary on my lipsand my eyes fixated to the heavens.

The leaks of aviation fuel from the plane into the water wereburning my skin. There was little I could do as aviation fuelcovered the water. I actually took several gulps of the water inmy bid to stir the strong sea currents to stay afloat. With no oneto cry out to for support and knowing I was probably the onlyone in the freezing Atlantic Ocean, this gave an excruciatingdilemma. What I did then was to get into a bargaining discussionwith God. My whole life was like a big screen before me and Icould actually see moments in my life that I had failed to liveup to my Christian obligation, either by wilful acts or omission.I became relentless in pleading my cause before God as theimages of my life played in the screen of my subconsciousmind. I begged Him for a second chance. My exact words werethat even if I became handicapped in whatever form, eitherblind or lame, I would not mind if only He would give me asecond chance to correct the mistakes of the past and to tellpeople of his goodness and love. For me, I did not need anyonetelling me about the existence of God. Seeing what had justhappened was in itself a testimony to that fact.

Being essentially with no clothing except for my boxer and jeantrouser in the freezing wind of the Atlantic Ocean, I was almostfrozen to death. While I regained full strength and energy tostay well alive perhaps for longer than expected, the harmattanhazy wind had bitten deep into my bones. I was very cold andshaking, gnashing my teeth.

For those who have seen the movie Titanic when the ship hit theiceberg with Leonardo Decaprio and Kate Winslet in the coldAtlantic Ocean, that was the situation I was faced with. I startedto question the wisdom of taking off my clothing amidst thecold biting deep into my body and this was sapping my energy.It was distorting my thought and there was nothing I could doabout getting my clothing back on. At that point, since I couldnot tolerate the cold any further, I did try several times to giveup hope. The continued presence of the thought of my Motherand kid brother John, who is now a grown man, gave me theextra courage to live.


(Continues...)
Excerpted from A Plane Crash Survivor's Miraculous True Story by Samuel Aigbe. Copyright © 2013 Samuel Aigbe. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Verlag
Balboa Press
Erscheinungsdatum
2013
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1452579520
ISBN 13 
9781452579528
Einband
Tapa blanda
Anzahl der Seiten
118
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