TUI 737 Emergency Landing Dub

I remember back in 1969, when I was 8, my Mum took me out to Dublin Airport on the bus to meet my Fad, returning from Germany on a business trip. When we arrived in the old terminal we were informed my father’s plane had burst a tyre landing in Manchester. I was dreadfully afraid. Mum took me back home on that foggy wet night, and she said “don’t worry, Dad is alright, I will phone the airport when we get home. I was listening go in to the phone conversation as I always did, and heard that his later onward flight couldn’t land in Dublin due to the fog. Was crying my eyes out internally thinking I’d never see him again didn’t want Mum to see how scared I was. She then said she heard he had landed in Shannon and was being put up for the night in the airport hotel. I was rather relieved.

Mum subsequently phoned the hotel, must have been midnight, and asked to be put through to my Dad’s room. The receptionist, by mistake, connected the room where the captain was staying, and Mum initially thought it must be a bad line as she didn’t recognise my Dad’s voice. Next moment the pilot said “which room are you in? Why don’t you spend a cost night with me, we don’t have to tell anyone.” She roared laughing, the captain was coughing and spluttering at his mistake, and my a Dad poked a bit of fun at the captain next morning! I was laughing now!

In those days airplanes did crash a lot more often than now, so my fear wasn’t entirely groundless.