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Memoirs Of a Flight Attendant

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My early days in flying was really a learning curve for me. First Lesson learnt: What we are taught in theory is sometimes very different from the practical experience. This played out on my first flight.

As i recall the experience today i laugh at my self. I am not being dramatic here, but believe you me, i made a convenant with God on that day at more than 24,000 feet above sea level. Guess what the deal was; ” God should just take us through the turbulent phase of the flight and get us to the ground safely and that would be it for me” i have come to realise that most times we do not appreciate what we have. Until you are up there in the skies..you wont really appreciate how important the ground is.

It was my first flight. We were flying to Kano, a nightstop flight. We had just finished inflight Service when we hit a terrible storm. The turbulence was very severe, It was as if the aircraft was ripping apart. It was a A Bac1-11 Airplane which was known for it’s ruggedness and ability to withstand agressive weather conditions. I tell you the turbulence was bad!!

My Lead crew instructed me to man the forward galley whilst she went to secure the Cabin. At some point some passengers were shouting “Blood of Jesus” whilst some others were prophesying…”God you said i will not die but proclaim the word of the Lord in the land of the living…”. Lol….
I was really scared!.

Yes we were taught and tutored on turbulent weather conditions and the necessary actions to take. But really going through it, I must confess wasn’t a funny one for me.
I know we were also told to be bold and exude confidence at such times as passengers look up to us. It can really be tricky you know. Truth be said on this occasion i could not be a SuperHuman. It was more challenging having to put up a bold face whilst fretting within.

Just as i was there wondering what i had gotten my self into, by becoming a flight attendant, Capt Bellgam who is now late, may his soul continue to rest in Peace called from the Cockpit. Since my lead Crew was not there as she was in the cabin trying to secure and reassure the passengers, i had to attend to the Captain’s call. I was further alarmed when he informed that we should all take our seats and remained strapped because the turbulence we had gone through was minute compared to what was still ahead. My heart sunk because i had not recovered from the previous one.

Back then we use to carry bottled soft drinks in crates and Coolers onboard. Thanks to improved Cabin safety regulations banning the use of bottles. These were potentially harzadours items onboard . As we went through that turbulence that day the impact on the aircraft resulted to crates of drinks being lifted from the floor of the aircraft and then it hits the floor of the airplane again.

I got injured by one of the bottles that slipped off. Only one thing came to my mind that night.; ” I was going to quit if we made it back to ground safely. I wasn’ t sure i was configured for that kind of experience.

The good news is that we landed safely after the storm. But surprisingly i forgot about the experience after the flight. The situation can simply be likened to the woman in labour who because of the excruciating pains vows never to get pregnant again but forgets the pain after birth.

After more flights.. experiencing turbulence on my flights became a norm. and till date am still Cruishing….

About Joy Ogbebo

My name is joy Ogbebo. I have spent Twenty four years in the Aviation Industry as a Cabin Crew, Crew Development Purser, Crew Line Manager, Line Trainer, Performance Manager. Customer Relationship and Head Cabin & Inflight Services. This is an industry I am very passionate about. Am happy to share my knowledge and experiences with the world. Please be my guest! Welcome Onboard!

One comment

  1. I can relate with this.