'Where else could you take off from a remote airport and fly at low level over the countryside dodging hillocks and trees in a Boeing 737 at 300 knots! '

'Where else could you take off from a remote airport and fly at low level over the countryside dodging hillocks and trees in a Boeing 737 at 300 knots! '

Mike Mahon describes some of the fun times he experienced when flying for a Nigerian airline.

Mike Mahon

Trinity College Dublin

1965

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Mike Mahon

Work and Employment

Life Story

Nigeria

1960s

Although we had very dangerous flying conditions it was fun . Where else could you take off from a remote airport and fly at low level over the countryside dodging hillocks and trees in a Boeing 737 at 300 knots! If any passenger queried this we instructed the cabin crew to tell them that the aircraft was having pressurization problems and could not climb . On the 737 there were two large square red warning lights that flashed if we got an engine fire. There was also a third red light the same size that said 'auto pilot disconnect'. Now these lights were interchangeable, so we would do so and wait for one of the hostesses to come into the cockpit. Then if you disconnected the autopilot the red light would start flashing' FIRE' The cabin crew would start screaming, 'Oh, Skip, skip, we have fire. We are all going to die. Do something!' At this we would feign confusion, jump around in our seats, and join in the general hullabaloo . We would then reach into our nav bags and grab a tin of spray deodorant and direct it at the offending 'fire', at the same time pressing the cancel button The fire was extinguished much to the relief of the cabin crew and evoked gales of laughter from them 'Oh, Skip, you are a crazy pilot'

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)