To the uninitiated, the work of flight attendants seems like a wonderful pastime with flights to the sea, affairs with passengers and other airborne romance. The stewards and flight attendants themselves usually recall different stories.
Alina, Transaero: “We are not in Europe”
“Domestic flight. We had already closed the doors, sat down and were preparing for takeoff. Suddenly I hear someone calling us. I run up and see: a passenger has opened an emergency exit to the wing. I ask him: why? He replies: “It’s getting hot.” When we took off, we were afraid of depressurization the entire flight. The pilots closed the hatch, but the second pilot couldn’t do it, so the commander had to get involved. If this had happened in Europe or the USA, after such an act the man would have been removed from the flight and severely punished, but here he flew to his destination. Upon arrival, a police squad was waiting for him, who simply talked to him.
Evgeniya, Aeroflot: “They demand a book of complaints”
“Once on a flight, a very drunk passenger had an urge to “before the wind” right on takeoff. At this time, the toilets are still closed, and everyone sits with their seat belts fastened. The man tried to relieve himself in the passage, but we managed to persuade him to be patient.
Another time, even before takeoff, two passengers did not share the luggage compartment and, swearing heavily, began to throw each other’s things around the cabin. They were going to fight, but we didn’t let them.
Sometimes passengers think that they are in a restaurant and are very upset when they get fish instead of meat. This happens, for example, when you sit at the back of the cabin. A scandal begins, shouts of “give me the complaint book!”
A separate topic is children. Some mothers refuse to fasten their children’s seat belts during takeoff and landing because “they might cry.” The fact that, first of all, the safety of the child himself, and at the same time those around him, depends on this - this does not bother them. Screaming kids, by the way, are not a problem for us. Now, if children are running around the cabin, then there is a risk of running over them with a food cart (very heavy, by the way). Well, in general, they greatly interfere with passenger service.”
Irina, Yamal: “We have to pump it out”
“I have had the opportunity to provide assistance when someone became ill, or when a child choked. The impressionable then write in the book of proposals and on the website, admiring how we fight for the life of the passenger. Once a child of about three years old choked. Of course we helped. So the eyewitness then shook our hands and thanked us, although he was a stranger to this little guy. This is, of course, very pleasant. In situations like these, passengers truly understand why a flight attendant is needed on an airplane.
One day a young man became ill. He was shaking and throwing himself either hot or cold. It didn't look like an epileptic seizure. We didn't leave his side the entire flight. Doctors later said that he was poisoned.”
Olga, UTair: “They didn’t let me rest”
“Flight Moscow - Murmansk. Everything was as usual: they seated people, prepared for takeoff, and took off. While serving passengers, I heard loud screams and someone swearing. Turning around, I saw that a conflict had broken out between six women. Half were flying to celebrate something, half were flying to bury someone. The women flying to the holiday were tipsy, playing cards and laughing loudly. In general, the passengers quarreled and threw small objects at each other. We reassured them, of course, but I also heard a lot of things addressed to me. In Murmansk, the police were called because the women violated the rules of behavior on board the aircraft and insulted the crew members.
It didn't end there. I was asked to go with the passengers to the police for further investigation. In theory, at this time I was supposed to rest before the return flight. The result is a fine for violent passengers for violating the rules, the prospect of a court case and my four-hour stay at the police station.”
Irina, UTair: “We saved a life”
“Flight to Gelendzhik from Moscow. They offered passengers hot meals; there was about an hour left before Gelendzhik. An older woman got up and wanted to go to the toilet, but collapsed in the aisle and lost consciousness. She was flying alone. We stopped service and rushed to her. They tried to measure the pulse, but it was faintly palpable. Her face was pale gray, her lips were blue, and sweat poured down her face.
The plane was fully loaded, but there were understanding people who gave up their seats, and we were able to place her on a row of seats. They tried to bring the woman to her senses. Unfortunately, our first aid kit does not contain any serious drugs or equipment, so we can only provide pre-medical assistance using the simplest means. Among them are stimulating napkins for breathing (replacement for ammonia), nitrospray (for heart patients), as well as an oxygen cylinder - it, like nothing else, helps out in such situations, since in case of heart failure, as a rule, there is always not enough air. One of the passengers, a doctor, also helped. Together we literally fought for this woman’s life. She periodically came to her senses and muttered something incoherently. Didn't answer questions.
They did a heart massage. It was scary that a person could die in front of your eyes, and you were unable to help him. In agreement with the commander, the crew decided to land at the nearest airport to hand over this passenger to doctors. We made an emergency landing in Rostov. At the moment of descent, the woman felt a little better, she responded to our questions. The most important thing for us was to determine whether she had heart problems, maybe she was hypertensive or something else. The passenger did not know of any chronic diseases. In preparation for landing, we soldered it with water.
A team of five doctors arrived in Rostov. We told them about what happened and what means we tried to help - everything we used. They threw up their hands and offered to continue the flight. They said something like “there are only 50 minutes left to fly, and in Gelendzhik she will receive treatment.” It was obvious to us that the passenger would not survive another takeoff and landing. Rostov doctors did not want to take responsibility. As a result, passengers intervened in our altercation, and the woman was nevertheless taken to the hospital.
Surprisingly, there were also passengers who were indignant, snorted and declared that they would not fly with our company again - “with such unscheduled landings and delays.”
One more time we flew by charter from Hurghada to Moscow. The passengers, of course, were tipsy - after all, they were on vacation. But a whole series of passengers ran away from one woman with her spoiled children. They tried to make comments to her, then they came to us to complain: their neighbor began to be rude to them and threaten them with violence. We allowed one passenger to change seats first, who complained about a lady with children. Then to another girl - again from the same row. In general, we did everything to quell the conflict.”
Natalya, UTair: “They ask for oxygen, then vodka, or to sew up their pants”
“Then I was still working at Siberia Airlines (S7). A week or two before this incident, two of our planes crashed. We operated a flight from Domodedovo on a large “carcass”. The man sitting in the last row was very nervous. First he asked for water, then he demanded oxygen, then he demanded vodka. We were waiting for documentation on board and were ready to close the door and remove the ladder when, at the last minute, a Muslim passenger ran into the cabin.
She walked through the cabin with a suitcase, which was difficult to place on the shelves above the passenger seats. We had to put it in the oxygen compartment, between the toilets in the rear. She herself also sat down at the end - not far from the nervous man.
The situation has strained us. There was a “jock” in our crew, and we asked him to stay in the tail section for the entire flight and watch these two passengers. Our foreman panicked the most, four hours in the air. She understood all the responsibility and possible consequences. We were, of course, just fantasizing, but at the same time we were on our guard.
One day our crew spent the night in a city on the seashore. We decided to take a little walk and drink local wine, but the commander refused. He is an interesting person, loves to joke, but at the same time speaks extremely slowly. We are accustomed to this manner of communication, but from the outside it may not seem entirely adequate. The next morning we undergo a medical examination to obtain permission to fly. The doctor decided that the commander was under the influence of psychotropic substances and did not allow him to fly with the conclusion “inability to control the crew and the aircraft.” After much discussion, we were eventually allowed to fly, albeit with a two-hour delay.
One more time we operated a daily flight to Kharkov from Moscow Vnukovo. The plane is small, and the passengers are always the same - people fly every day to work and return home. One day a businessman was flying to Kharkov, with whom we exchanged a few words. The next day we returned to Moscow. During the flight, a man turned to me with despair in his eyes - he had a business meeting planned, and his trousers were torn at the side seam. Since I always have thread and a needle with me (tights or stockings can easily get caught during our work), I decided to help him out. He looked joyful, like a child. The man had to take off his trousers, but I gave him a blanket, which he wrapped around like a skirt. In about ten minutes I sorted out the seam that had come apart. The passenger was happy.
I once worked on a flight with three stops. From the final destination we flew back in the same way. And, of course, there were transit passengers who flew with us until the very end. Before each takeoff in transfer cities, I announced the entire route with all landings. Then - the destination to which we were flying at the moment. Parking at airports was a maximum of 50 minutes. I somehow got wrapped up and forgot where the plane was flying this time. I had to ask passengers for help to remind me. They, of course, helped me out."
Victor (company name not disclosed at the request of the flight attendant): “They wanted to solve us”
“We were operating a flight from Moscow to Irkutsk. There were 3 guys working, there were no girls. Passengers boarded and took off. A fairly drunk citizen in the economy room demanded cognac. Once they answered that there was no alcohol - he started screaming and being indignant, so he had to come up again. The passenger announced that if they didn’t pour him cognac, he would “kill everyone here.” We are tired of this, and we qualified his actions as a threat to the crew and passengers. In reality, of course, it was just a drunken man who wanted another drink. In general, they tied me up and made me sit in the service part of the plane. In this form he spent the rest of the flight - all three and a half hours. Upon landing, he was handed over to the police; I don’t know what happened to him next.”
Artem (company name not disclosed at the request of the flight attendant): “Yelling in unison”
“The greatest number of screaming children interfering with normal work is, of course, during the holiday season. And they all scream in unison. Passengers who consider themselves very important persons are extremely annoying. It seems to them that they came to a restaurant, and we have to dance in front of them for their five thousand ticket. Usually these are men who also write all sorts of nonsense in the book of complaints. Fortunately, there were no horror stories in my practice. Of course, it happened - it threw me up half a meter while descending. But this is, in general, quite normal.”
1. First solo flight
Today is my first day at work. The day when I go on a flight without the supervision of an instructor. The planes in our squadron are small, “Annushki”, as people affectionately call them, but for me their size does not matter.
I walk through the airport building, and my whole appearance radiates pleasure from my life! I’m wearing a beautiful, in my opinion, blue uniform, a cap on my head...
“Have you flown on airplanes before?” asked the instructor when we met.
“Of course, every year, with my parents,” I answered without blinking an eye. I just didn’t clarify that, having a mother who was a railway worker, every year my “planes” took me along the sleepers.
I remembered that when the plane took off for the first time, I didn’t even feel it take off. I was overwhelmed with euphoria of feelings. Finally my dream of heaven has come true!
...I walk along a silver field and see a snow-white bird in front of me. She has already spread her wings to fly me to a fairyland...
I walked up the plane and went inside. The crew will arrive soon. In the movies, all flight attendants do is wave greetings and carry carts with drinks around the cabin. And instead of a cart, we have ordinary trays. Life is not like that. You need to get up at five o'clock in the morning, get ready - take a spare pair of tights, if suddenly the first pair breaks; take a spare white blouse if the main one suddenly gets dirty; don’t forget to put a workbook, cosmetics, etc. in your bag, in case you suddenly have to replace one of the sick girls and spend the night in a hotel in another city; get off on the service bus, which arrives at six o'clock; undergo a daily doctor's examination (temperature, blood pressure, general well-being), receive instructions from your boss (who is very strict and, by the way, forbids us to call ourselves “flight attendant”; we must say “flight attendant”), come to the plane, check the preparation of the plane for the arrival of morning passengers (the presence of headrests on the seats, napkins in the pockets of the seats), get drinks, check the quantity with the list, sign, check the dishes, and then wait for the dear passengers, for whom all this is actually being done.
... Cinderella fluttered, and everything in her hands was done quickly and accurately. Oh! I would like butterflies here and decorate the walls with them. And also air clouds, so that instead of pillows for guests to put on the chairs...
And then the bus brought my passengers. There are only 48 seats on the plane. One flight attendant. On some planes, if the microphone does not work, we must go out into the cabin in front of the passengers and pronounce our information in a loud voice. Flights usually take an hour or two. Our squadron operates only domestic flights. Therefore, we only offer passengers drinks and sometimes sweets if they are supplied to us.
... Here are my overseas guests - kings and queens, princes and princesses, marquises and countesses... Come in, come in. I've been waiting for you in my castle since the morning. The musicians greet them with ringing music. How elegant and beautiful you all are. You won't regret coming here. You will enjoy visiting me...
Passengers get off the bus and for a moment, something inside me plummets downwards with great speed.
…Mother! No! Not on the first day of my independence such surprises! ...
THIS WAS A MEN'S TEAM OF ATHLETES, EACH OF WHICH WAS HOLDING HIS OWN STICK IN HIS HAND. Yes. And that's not it! It was the GEORGIA field hockey team!
Okay, I can handle it! Smiling, I greet the young, tall, handsome men, trying not to show that their fiery glances make my hands and knees tremble.
… SPACE – PROTECTION! And I feel a ray of light falling on me from the sky, enveloping me in a safe mirror cocoon and now I’m not afraid. Now I am protected and my anxiety disappears...
Having seated the passengers, I go into the cabin to the crew. After a short report to the crew commander about the readiness of the passengers for departure, I return to the cabin.
Anyway, the microphone doesn't work! And I’m sure this crappy thing deliberately pretended to be a broken piece of iron in order to laugh at me when I was forced to go out in front of my Georgian guests. Well! Let's go...
- Good afternoon, dear passengers... - and then a funny thought came into my head that the rest of the word sounds like “fats”. And seeing in front of me athletes with large shoulders, arms and apparently equally large other parts of the body, I accidentally highlighted this part of the word, and the cabin of the plane exploded with deafening laughter. Everyone was having fun, and I was blushingoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooof of by on of... And then the coach stood up, turned to the team and waved his hand. Everyone became quiet and sat smiling. I was silent, wasting precious minutes before takeoff. The coach turned to me and said:
- Daughter, don’t worry. We fly so much that we already know by heart everything you want to tell us. Go, darling, sit down. Don’t be offended by the guys, it’s hard to be serious when you see a girl like that.
“Thank you,” I smiled, “I can handle it, sit down.” And when the coach sat down, I perfectly read the welcome speech to the end. Then I checked if the passengers’ seat belts were fastened and my day began….
... Today there were seven takeoffs and landings. But it seemed to me that I was just a little tired. Probably, if I had been given free rein, I would never have gotten off the plane.
... The ball is over. The guests left. The sound of the wheels of the last carriage leaving had already died down in the alley. My musicians have already laid down their instruments. I walk around the empty hall, and dancing couples in elegant clothes are still circling before my eyes. Oh, how wonderful the past day was! Oh, how wonderful tomorrow will be!...
2. Nadya Kurchenko's plane
After working for some time, I, having shown diligence and hard work (which did not cost me any work, I liked what I was doing), was honored to fly on an airplane named after Nadya Kurchenko. This girl is a flight attendant who died at the hands of terrorists. In the salon, her portrait hangs on the front wall. Suddenly it turns out that she and I have some similarities in face, and passengers constantly ask me if we are sisters? One day my father was flying with me, returning from Kamchatka, where he had lived for some time. He was upset when he saw our similarity. I imagined that this was not without reason, and that something similar could happen to me too. She barely calmed me down.
... In the morning, when entering the airplane cabin, I always greet you - Hello, Nadya! Well, did you fly? How are you? I hope it’s good, and seeing your smile, I know that today I won’t be alone again...
Every day is different. Each has its own pros and cons. I'm almost never at home. In our team of female flight attendants, I am the youngest. I don’t even have time to make friends with anyone. Flying all the time. But recently I still managed to get closer to one of the girls. Basically, we all meet in the instructor’s office, where we have our five-minute minutes, or “window” between flights.
This girl had an unusually wonderful name - Lily of the Valley. At first I thought I had misheard. And then I admired her name. Her parents even surpassed mine. My mom and dad both served in the army as telephonist soldiers and got married. While waiting for my birth, they watched the film about Joan of Arc. And they decided that this was what they would call their daughter. But name your daughter after a flower... Lily of the valley! Oh, how beautiful it is!
I asked Lily of the Valley how is her personal life? When I come home, I always find a bouquet of flowers at home from the guy I met on the plane. I liked him so much that we agreed to meet at my house. And I gave him my address. But we never managed to meet. Lily of the Valley replied that this is a problem for all flight attendants. They are always busy flying, which is why there are so many “old maids”. And she shared a secret with me - when she has another affair, she simply does not go to work. For absenteeism, as punishment, she is temporarily “written off” for three months to the laundry shop to wash headrests. But the working day is from 9 to 5 o'clock. And there is time for personal life.
… No. Decisive - no! How can you exchange this blue sky, this heap of snow clouds, these golden pillars of light in the night sky, rising from the earth from the bright lighting of the cities? No I can not…
During the day I flew with a crew whose commander was a man named Dubrovsky. One day, walking through the salon, he asked:
- You look out the window all the time. What did you see there?
“I would like to be a heavenly ballerina,” I laughed in response, “so I imagine myself in a long, fluffy white dress and jumping barefoot from cloud to cloud.” So beautiful!
He laughed and called me weird. Well, thank you for not being a fool.
We're on our last flight. It's already late at night. But I was so tired that I even got lost in time. The hour difference always makes me uncomfortable. In three months I only had a day off twice. There weren’t enough girls, and, seeing my desire to work, they constantly put me “in reserve.” I spent the night in a hotel near the airport. I wonder who comes up with these jokes about flight attendants?
... “He looked at her and her heart seemed to freeze in anticipation of a kiss.” Kiss. And who will kiss? In general, I am an extremely romantic person. I learned relationships from Dreiser’s novels, and therefore the ideal man for me is Lester from Jenny Gerhard. Where can you find this? And in general, Chekhov, Goncharov, Dreiser, Leskov - all these writers shaped my inner world in such a way that it is difficult for me to adapt to modern concepts of open relationships, where the main trump card is “don’t have complexes”!...
There are a lot of men around, plenty of compliments. And when do you melt from the fire of compliments? As soon as you find free time, you give up on everything, and - that sweet word “sleep”... Arriving in cities where the crew was supposed to spend the night, I cannot immediately leave the plane. You need to wait for the truck to arrive and return the remaining drinks and empty containers. Those. I had to go to the warehouse, hand it all over there, and fill out the paperwork. And then go to the special dining room, which was usually located somewhere, but not nearby. And since I didn’t know where these canteens were, and I didn’t really want to wander around a strange city in the dark looking for her, I was constantly going hungry. Then the girls taught us that we should at least carry cookies in our bag. And everyone reassured me - you’ll get used to it. Yeah, I'll get used to it. Already the uniform hangs like a robe on a concentration camp prisoner. I somehow found such a dining room. We were given food stamps. When I went there, the hall was full of men in flight uniforms. Having taken dinner for myself, I could not eat, feeling like I was being watched closely. In the end, she couldn’t stand it and left.
So this is the last flight. They brought passengers, and it turned out that they were all Japanese tourists. Even without a translator. The translator was supposed to meet them upon arrival at the airport. It’s still night, and everyone will sleep. After everyone was seated, our plane gained the required altitude, and a sleepy kingdom reigned in it.
I went to the crew cabin to check the weather. It's stunningly beautiful outside the airplane cabin windows. Below the ground there is darkness, but it is pierced by flickering rays of light from the lights of houses, lanterns and signs stretching to the sky. And the sky itself is purple, or some other unusual shade (and in the mornings the sky is pink! And it can also range from pink to all shades of crimson. And the sun! Sometimes red, sometimes orange, sometimes golden! Like in girls’ dreams of a fairyland , where fairy-tale princes live on white horses! A stunning picture!). Suddenly I see a blot in the distance right in front of us. To my question about her, the navigator answered:
- Yes, it’s a small cloud. Go check it out, let everyone buckle up.
I went into the cabin, showed the awake passengers that they needed to buckle up, woke up the sleeping ones and did the same.
As soon as I reached the end of the cabin, the plane began to shake. I don't like these air surprises so much. Because some of the passengers might get scared, I had to be very careful all the time. The last two chairs were empty. I barely had time to grab my bag before I sat down in one of them.
... Attention, Nadyusha! Look after the front rows there, and I’ll look after mine here...
And then the plane started tossing around so much that I had to grab the arms of my seat to avoid flying out! A man fell into the middle of the cabin and apparently unfastened his belt as soon as I left him. The man, falling to the floor, got on all fours and crawled back into the chair. And then, after a few seconds, I saw in the gloomy flickering light of the lighting lamps a slow motion film of some kind of film, AND I SO DIDN’T WANT TO BE PRESENT IN IT!
At first, for some reason, some of the fastening buttons holding the headliner came loose. And the ceiling became wavy. Then, floating importantly through the air, a box of lemonade appeared from the rear compartment. Also taking his time, he landed on the carpet in the salon, and for some reason the bottles that flew out of him broke into many fragments. And these fragments also slowly littered the floor. Then the carpet began to twist due to the fasteners jumping out of it, and soon began to run, curled up into a roller. I looked at these slow-motion actions in surprise, and suddenly, looking up, I saw that all the passengers had turned and were looking at me! And one elderly Japanese woman, clutching her head with her hands, opened her mouth in silent horror, ready to explode with a hysterical scream.
... People jumped out of their seats and, pushing each other, began to rush around the cabin of the plane. The plane was unable to maintain its balance and, with a long groan, rushed to the ground...
Well no! This is not a movie for you. Watch a movie about the disaster at home!
An icy wave of peace washed over me. I looked at the Japanese, and it seemed to me that if anyone decided to start a panic, I would simply kill him in the name of saving the plane. I got up from my seat, trying to keep my balance in this frantic jump of the plane through the air pockets, and smiling, annoyedly spread my arms to the sides and shrugged my shoulders - they say, it’s a nuisance, but it happens. Then, still smiling with the most charming smile she was capable of, she made a gesture with her hand so that everyone would sit and not get up, and sat down in the chair again. She slowly took out a bottle of nail polish from her purse. I HAVE NEVER HAD TO PAINT NAILS IN SUCH CRAZY CONDITIONS! The brush slid past my nails, I smeared my fingers, smiling annoyedly, wiped off the varnish with a piece of bandage, and continued to smear again. From time to time I raised my head, saw the eyes of the Japanese looking at me, who were in complete shock from what was happening, I nodded my head to them, waved my hand affectionately and again painted, painted, painted...
... Nadya, Nadya. You're ahead there. You see my Japanese. Help me, keep an eye on them. We need to hold on a little longer. Everything will be fine soon. Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine …
And the people calmed down. They probably thought that we Russians always fly in such extreme ways. During landing, something happened to the landing gear. They sat on the grass, as one technician I knew said, “on the belly.” But after recklessly throwing around in the night sky, my passengers did not particularly react to such a landing. As they exited the plane, many of them scribbled on their notepads. Someone even took pictures of me. An elderly Japanese woman just came up, hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. Then the technicians entered the plane. Destruction reigned everywhere. One of the technicians said that something happened to the “tail” of the plane (something was cut off there), and the wing was damaged a little or something else. I didn’t listen to them, being in some kind of disconnected state. It was as if I was looking at all this from the outside. The flight mechanic who came up to me also said something to me for a long time, smiling. All I could understand was that there was no need to tell anyone about what had happened and about the blot that I saw in the sky from the cabin. It seemed like we were in a hurry to finish the last flight, we had to get around this thundercloud, but we got caught, and the discharges battered us. I stood, listened and was silent, smiling with a smile glued to my face. Then she turned to the front wall and looked at Nadya’s portrait. We exchanged knowing glances.
... How's your girlfriend? - Yes, everything is fine! - We were thrown around a lot, right? - Yes. Like in the movies. “And my passengers were lucky that they didn’t start twitching, they probably would have hit the panicker on the head!” - Come on, pour it in, you wouldn’t hit anyone. I would help you sit him down and calm him down. - Well, Nadyusha, shall we go home? - Went…
Another surprise awaited me near the airport building. Usually we had to wait until two o'clock in the morning. It was at this time that the service bus made its last trip to the city.
... One day an incident happened to me, because of which I no longer risked taking a taxi to come home early. The taxi driver, having learned that I had not been in the city for two days, citing road repairs, took me to the edge of the city and, having gone to a non-residential area where there was a vacant lot, began to pester me. I fought in silence, determined not to give up. Mentally, I had already bitten off everything I could and gouged out both of his eyes. And then my sadistic dreams of revenge were interrupted by the noise of the car door opening. A traffic police crew passing by saw that the rear lights of a car's headlights were shining in the vacant lot. They drove up and, getting out of the car, saw the driver and passenger struggling. But my superman taxi driver was so engrossed in his actions that he did not see or hear anything. So the traffic cops saved me, and maybe him from me. Later the police took me home. Then they caught me, because... I was at work all the time so I could write a statement about the assassination attempt. But the taxi driver also came and talked to my mother. On his knees he begged not to go to jail, he had just recently been released from prison, got married, had a child, his uncle got him this job, and if his relatives found out about what had happened, they would kill him themselves. Mom persuaded me to forgive him. Since then I have always waited for the service bus...
And then suddenly the pilots sitting in the car called me and offered to take me home. The crews on the flights were different all the time, and I didn’t even have time to remember the names. Approaching the car, I saw my today's crew. They kindly gave me a ride home.
While washing the white collar of my shirt for tomorrow, I suddenly thought that my life could end today. I felt scared for a moment. I knelt down right next to the bathtub, frozen in horror. But the tears never came, because something else, stronger and more decisive, surged inside me and with a loud, decisive “NO!” destroyed the dark wall of fear that bound me. No! I'll still live! It’s too early for me to leave, because I have so many plans ahead!....
3. Farewell to the sky
I am writing the last and saddest chapter of my diary. Even now, when so many years have passed, I cannot calmly remember my farewell to heaven. And the bitterness of loss fills my soul again and again.
... Oh, who doesn’t walk, but draws with thin heels on the asphalt of the runway? Oh yes, this is the same girl who was able to break into the future from the past...
My friend Faika, Faina, came to see me. The most beautiful girl. I didn't even try to be jealous. Lost number. My only consolation was that it was not for nothing that they bullied me at school with the nickname “long-legged heron,” and that at least this could not be taken away from me. She told me that our squadron is recruiting girls for the position of flight attendants. In short, an hour later we were already standing in the personnel department of the air squadron. Faika’s documents landed on the personnel officer’s desk almost immediately. He looked at mine for a long time, and then said that the set was only for girls 18 years old. And my passport belonged to a 16-year-old girl. I immediately, possessing a literary gift, convincingly told the story that, having received my passport, I did not notice the date of birth written incorrectly on it. And so I brought it to show my permanent residence registration, and then I’ll still take it back to the address office so that the unfortunate date can be changed. I looked so sincerely into the eyes of this middle-aged man, tortured by official troubles, and the shortage of guides was “somewhat acute” that they took me. Of course, I promised to bring my passport after the correction.
Then we talked with the instructor - the head of the flight attendants. After asking us about our families, she saw how we could smile, made us walk a little on a string stretched on the floor, and then let us go through a medical examination in order to later begin our training to be a flight attendant.
And then something happened to Fainka. She, under various pretexts, did not want to go to the gynecologist, who was obligatory for us. Still, she passed it, somehow managing to avoid inspection. Later, having taken off on her first flight, she spent the entire flight nauseous in the plane’s toilet, and no one in the squadron ever saw her again. It turns out that she was in the third month of pregnancy from her friend, she knew about it, but she wanted to have time to work before maternity leave. Her mother then took the work book herself, but Faika never showed up. I, too, have since lost track of her. Thus our paths in life diverged. I passed the commission, then underwent training that lasted several months, another month of flying with an instructor, and then I flew on my own...
I finally have a man in my life. At first I heard about him from a conversation among my fellow girls. Sometimes we had joint meetings where pilots and flight attendants who were not flying could finally get together. And there, I heard by chance that among the “cargo” pilots (i.e. those flying on Annushkas carrying cargo), there was one very handsome guy whom one of our flight attendants knew. The girls praised his appearance and character so much that I became interested in seeing him.
And one day I accidentally met a young man in a flight uniform who was traveling with me and my colleague in a minibus. This girl, her name was Natasha, always amazed me with her love for cleanliness. Even in the rain, she walked in such a way that not a single drop of dirty water from the puddles dared to touch her. I, like a monkey, copied her, sympathizing with her. I also polished my boots and shoes, crunched the snow-white collar of my blouse, and even began to copy her smile, but soon gave up. In any circumstances, I always returned to myself. I was just me.
And so, there, in the minibus, this pilot managed to start talking with random phrases to Natasha, with whom I agreed to go to work that day. We each had three evening flights. I mostly smiled and remained silent because I was sure that I was the third wheel there. And suddenly, the next day, he met me and offered to walk me home. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears! And then Natasha told me that this was the pilot the girls were talking about at the meeting. And when the romance started, if you can call those short meetings due to our busy flights, the girls were wildly jealous of me. Wow, how proud I was that such a man was courting me! His name was Anatoly, he was nine years older than me, and this further fueled my interest in him. Later he proposed to me and I accepted. And then I completely moved in with him into his bachelor’s apartment.
...What are you doing, girl? Why do you need all this? Remember, you wanted to travel around the world! You wanted to see countries! Why tie your hands if you are still so young?...
But I didn’t listen to my inner voice, and the wheel of my life rolled on, gaining momentum. The wedding date has already been set. The wedding dress is already hanging in my parents’ house in my room. Now my friends, jealous, congratulate me on the upcoming events. Tolik has already been given a month of vacation after the wedding date so that he can spend his honeymoon in his homeland with his parents, taking me there to get acquainted.
... Lord, why do I feel so bad? What happened with me? I'm afraid. Why did I get involved with all this? I felt so good, I was free like a bird! What have I done?
One day we had a fight. Tolik was annoyed by my manner of falling asleep with my back turned to him. And I suddenly thought that this was just the beginning. That then he won’t like something else of mine, and something else. And I will have nowhere to go, I will be a ringed bird.
...What have I done?...
At work I was given a week off due to an upcoming wedding. When there were two days left before the wedding, I ran away.
...I have nothing left to lose. I can't! I can not! If I get married now, I'll ruin everything!...
Late in the evening, I hastily threw some things into my bag and went to see my grandmother, who lived in another city. At night, while I was traveling on an intercity bus, I didn’t sleep a wink. I was shaking with small tremors. It was scary to think what would happen tomorrow when my parents found out about my escape. I didn’t even want to think about the reaction of my failed husband.
... I'll think about it later. I will think about it tomorrow…
In the morning, the grandmother called her parents and said that it was too early for her granddaughter to get married. A few days later I returned home to my parents’ house. Tolik came immediately after his mother’s call to him and pretended that nothing had happened. Then, realizing that he couldn’t get me to talk, he asked me to accompany him. Saying goodbye, he said:
- Well, I won’t beg on my knees.
He left, and I stayed, wildly rejoicing in my freedom, but realizing what rubbish I am!
People at work briefly discussed our failed wedding. Neither he nor I explained anything to anyone. Two months later, Tolik transferred to another air squadron.
...And again I'm free! I'm happy! Again just the sky and me! Just heaven and me! I will never tie myself down to a man again. Stupid and tiresome. Lord, how good it is to be free again!...
There is a commotion in the squad. The annual commission arrived from Moscow. Document and health checks. Some will be written off due to old age, others due to health. And they wrote me off when I was young. Since I got settled, everyone has forgotten about my date in my passport. I earned several letters of gratitude from passengers, and flying incognito inspectors (yes, there are such) did not complain about me.
The commander, the head of our air squadron, called me to him.
- What have you done? - he asked. – Wasn’t it clear to you that if something had happened, you would have set up many people with your deception?
I was silent in response.
- Well, what should I do with you? And you have no comments. And you are among the leaders. So that's it. Until you reach adulthood, you will be transporting passengers by bus to airplanes. Agreed?
- No. I don’t change heaven for earth! – I said firmly.
After leaving the commander’s office, I walked home dejectedly, not even trying to get on the bus or catch a taxi. Someone called out to me, but I didn’t even turn around. Everything is over. I'll never fly again. Never.
I remember those days very vaguely. My grief weighed me down, and it took me great effort not to lose the thread of reason connecting me with this new life. Then my instructor came to see me. She persuaded me to agree, and promised to subsequently send me to school for international flight attendants. But I gave up everything. I have already turned this page in my life and started the next one. Later, I passed the final year exams at an art school as an external student, where I didn’t finish my studies, having failed to work at the airport, then defended my diploma. I didn’t want to meet any of my former colleagues. It hurt me to remember the lost job.
Soon after defending my diploma, I got married and went to live in Germany. There was a different sky there. But just as beautiful. And when in life I have to make some firm decision, I repeat the words of the girl in love with the heavenly heights:
– I DO NOT TRADE HEAVEN FOR EARTH!
A selection of stories from esquire.ru
TANNER, co-pilot:
“I saw the mouse as soon as I entered the cabin. Radio communications had been malfunctioning for the second week, so the steward and I waited for the flight engineer and mechanic. As soon as I reached for my phone to take a photo of the mouse, it disappeared under the dashboard. I sat down in the captain's place and thought. A few minutes later I heard a rustling sound and turned around. The mouse was sitting in the lunch box, which I accidentally left on the floor next to the chair. This was too much. I opened the logbook and made an entry about the rodent. So that's who chewed the wires on the plane. Last week there was a short circuit and smoke in the cockpit, but we were lucky to land the plane. The flight engineer was in no hurry. I grabbed the phone and yelled at him: “They’ve probably built a whole nest here!”
The captain was the last to enter the cockpit. Just off another flight, he didn't look well. “We don’t have another plane, we’ll have to fly on this one,” he snapped. “A mouse ran into the plane while it was parked.” I gave argument after argument: what if she ate a couple more wires, what if the rodents were seen by passengers, what if we crashed? I insisted on canceling the flight, but no one listened to me. The scandal ended with me being removed from the plane and replaced by some idiot. I’ve been working as a co-pilot for this company for seven years now, but it’s still a shame.”
ANNA, senior flight attendant:
“Passengers informed me that one young man on board was acting strangely. I decided to watch him. He photographed the back of the plane and the toilet, and sketched diagrams of the individual compartments in which drinks and food were stored. When I tried to talk to him, he asked alarming questions. Including how many people are on board. After that, for a long time he was indignant that the toilet was designed for only one passenger and could not accommodate more people.
I contacted the commander, but he said to just follow our instructions. The fact is that we do not have any special rules limiting such behavior. The flight attendants did not know how to stop the artist walking around the cabin. All we could do was ask for ID and write down the details. American. Already on the ground, the security service contacted him. The guy explained that he was outraged by the size of the toilet on the plane. And he added that he was studying for a master’s degree in architecture.”
CAFRIN, flight attendant:
“Our plane took off early in the morning. I immediately noticed a strong guy in a military uniform. He was sitting in my service area. He was returning home from training camp. Before takeoff, I asked that the bag be removed from under the seat and placed in the overhead compartment. He agreed, but not before taking out a gray bag. “A regular bag in case of nausea,” I thought. But he didn't use it during takeoff.
As soon as the commander turned off the “fasten seat belts” sign, the guy took the bag and headed to the toilet. He stayed there for quite a long time, and then left without him. I tensed up and went to the compartment. The package was found in the trash can. I'm not good at military terminology, but it seems like it was a cunning thing - a thing that could boil water without fire. You just need to pour the liquid inside. For some reason, the passenger opened the package and threw it in the trash without using it. I decided that it was better to take the hiter out of the basket and take it to a special compartment, you never know what might happen. There’s nothing to be done, it’s probably just hard for people to give up their habits.”
JANE, flight attendant:
“Forty-five minutes before boarding, a steward came up to me and said that there was something strange going on in the toilet. It turned out that the elderly woman was “stuck” to the toilet. We found her daughter in the cabin and the three of us went to help. I knocked on the door to find out what had happened. The old woman replied that she pulled the trigger while sitting on the toilet. Her daughter assumed it was just fatigue from the long flights. We opened the door.
It was impossible for the three of us to pull the old woman out of the trap. The woman lost consciousness. I sent a steward to get an oxygen mask. We gave the woman a couple of minutes to rest, but she was stuck. The steward noticed that the woman forgot to lower the toilet seat, so we need to unscrew the entire toilet from the floor. After such an adventure, the woman was completely exhausted, so with the commander’s permission, we landed with her in the toilet stall. I stayed with the woman until the end, and the guys called an ambulance and rescuers. They helped us carry the woman off the plane and immediately took her to the hospital. The moral is simple: “Never flush while you are sitting on the toilet.”
CAROLINE, flight attendant:
“A few minutes before boarding, all the electronic seats in business class failed. Sixteen passengers began to slowly move from a sitting position to a forced one - lying down. I reported this to the commander, but he replied that he was unlikely to be able to help.
The seats have a special mechanism to bring them to a sitting position in an emergency. But the buttons on the chairs had no labels, and I didn’t find anything about this in the instructions. There were five minutes left before landing, and it was impossible to raise all sixteen seats. Later, I realized that I had to go to an alternate route and transfer passengers to empty seats in economy class. It's good that we managed to land. It was unusual to see business class landing in a horizontal position.”
NATE, steward:
“Our airline provides people with three meals to choose from, but sometimes even this is not enough. On a recent flight, an economy class passenger told me that he was on a diet and refused to eat gluten-containing foods. I replied that I was unlikely to be able to help him with anything if he did not take food with him. After much arguing, the passenger grabbed the tray of food, but as soon as I moved away from him, he began to throw food around the cabin.
At first he threw a plastic spoon towards one of the stewards, but, receiving no response, he continued firing. Sandwiches, pieces of hot food, and a glass of water were used. He never hit the steward, but he hit fifteen passengers. We couldn’t calm him down; he was screaming and waving his arms. He told the entire cabin that before the flight he had not slept for a day and, in addition, was suffering from a hangover. "We issued him a written warning after he rudely asked three men in neighboring chairs to have sex."
JESSICA, flight attendant:
“I was already finishing serving passengers when a man sitting next to the cart suddenly stopped me and said: “If you need help, contact me. I am doctor". At first I didn’t understand what he was talking about and why I should see a doctor. However, when I returned to the back of the plane, I saw that two stewards were supporting a passenger who could barely stand on his feet. His head was wrapped in bandages. The white shirt was stained with blood.
I ran back. One of the curious passengers whistled: “Of course, I heard that his wife hit someone on the head with a bottle of wine, but I didn’t believe it.” The stewards later confirmed this. As far as I understand, the man did not drink a single gram, but his wife succeeded for two. I don’t know how much it took to get so angry. At the airport, the husband did not write a statement against her and told the police that he forgives his wife. I think they were British."
SARAH, flight attendant:
“A huge black Labrador trudged to land next to a man in uniform. The passenger assured us that this is a service dog, she is trained to be quiet and loves people. During takeoff, the dog climbed onto an empty seat next to its owner, so that its muzzle stuck out above the seats. I was working in business class when I saw my partner call the captain to say that she had just been bitten by a Labrador.
Most of all, I was afraid for the child who was sitting across the aisle from the dog. It was necessary to immediately transplant the Labrador, and I went to negotiate with the owner. While we were talking, I felt that the dog was breathing into my hand. Suddenly he bit my palm. A few minutes later I was informed that the dog had bitten a woman standing in the aisle. I decided that this was too much. We barely locked the dog in the toilet. Yes, passengers could not use it before boarding, but we did without any new casualties.”
Initially, on passenger flights, passengers were handled by a co-pilot, which was risky from a safety point of view. In 1928, in Germany, passenger aircraft crews began to include a third member - a steward. In 1930, in the USA, the idea arose to attract young attractive girls to work as stewards. This was supposed to serve as an advertisement for passenger air travel, besides, the girls weighed less, and any extra kilogram mattered.
Helen Church - the world's first flight attendant
To the question of when the new female profession of “stewardess” appeared, historians of passenger aviation do not have a clear answer. But in many reference publications, the world's first flight attendant is called the American Ellen Church, a registered nurse from Iowa. She managed to persuade the management of Boeing Air Transport to hire female doctors. In 1930, eight nurses were selected to fly. Helen Church was the first to fly from San Francisco to Chicago on May 15, 1930 (on a Boeing Model 80).
Sky Girls
Flight attendants (who were then called Sky Girls - “heavenly girls”) had to not only provide first aid or serve coffee with a sweet smile, but also perform a number of other duties that were not easy for men. The job description stated that flight attendants had to warmly greet passengers, validate their tickets, weigh the passengers and their luggage, and load and unload this luggage. Before departure, flight attendants had to clean the cabin and cockpit, check that the passenger seats were securely attached to the floor, and kill flies if necessary. During the flight, distribute chewing gum, blankets, slippers, clean shoes to passengers, clean the toilet after passengers use it. At stopover sites, they had to carry buckets of fuel to refuel the airliner. And when the plane arrived at its final destination, they had to help the ground staff roll it into the hangar. The girls worked 100 hours a month, receiving $125.
Boeing Air Transport hired flight attendants with a three-month probationary period, but the practice turned out to be so successful that they were not only added to the staff, but also decided to hire mainly women as flight attendants in the future. The requirements for applicants were as follows: to be unmarried, to have a nursing diploma, age - no older than 25 years, weight - no more than 52 kg, height - no higher than 160 centimeters.
The emergence of the term "flight attendant"
In September 1998, at the assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO, representatives of all states agreed that the existing official name of the profession of flight attendants and stewards - Flight Attendant (literally translated as “flight assistant”) should be replaced by Cabin Crew (literally translated as “crew” aircraft cabin" - flight attendant) in order to increase the role and status of these specialists in ensuring safety on board the aircraft.
Here are 10 Shocking Stories from Flight Attendants. If you've flown enough for years, you've probably heard the same in-flight instructions about how to fasten your seat belt, where to get off the plane, and what to do in case of emergency. Flight attendants know all the secrets and even the most experienced pilots cannot know what is really happening during their flights.
"My sister is a flight attendant and she says that after she tells everyone to turn off all electronics, she goes back and takes out her phone and starts texting." "Pilot says: Turning off electronics on a plane is completely useless."
"Mobile electronic devices won't actually cause a plane to crash, but they can be very annoying for pilots. Just imagine flight attendants talking about sitting in the cockpit as the crew descends to their destination and hearing a cacophony of interference from 100+ mobile devices." suppressing the signal. I can’t find a free frequency, I’m changing the channel...”
2. Water in flight
"A former Lufthansa cargo agent says: Never drink water on a plane that isn't served to you from a bottle by a flight attendant. Don't even touch it. The reason is that the ports for cleaning the toilet [expletive] and filling the plane with drinking water are a foot apart." and sometimes serviced all at once by the same guy. Not always, but unless you're on a watchtower ramp, you never know how it's done."
3. Blanket and headphones
“I worked in the southwest,” says a flight attendant. “These blankets and pillows? Yes, they were simply renatured and put back in the bins, between flights. The only fresh ones that I ever saw were on the plane that was flying, in the morning in the city of initialization Also, if you've ever spilled peanuts on your tray and then eaten them, or even touched your tray, it's more than likely that you've swallowed baby urine.I've seen piles of dirty diapers laid out on those trays, more than food. And these trays, yes, I have never seen them cleaned or disinfected even once."
"I used to work in a warehouse that supplied certain airlines with parts. The headsets that are given to you are not new, even though they are wrapped. They are taken off the flight, "cleaned" and then packed again."
4. Getting more space
"Armrests - aisle and sill: Reach your hand along the bottom of the armrest, just as far as the hinge begins, and you will feel a button. Press it and it will raise the armrest. This adds a lot of space to the seat and makes getting in from the aisle much easier."
5. Captain
“...in addition, if a passenger causes a scene at Jetway, the captain can refuse them the flight, remove them from the board and fly off without them.
The captain has virtually unlimited power when the doors are closed. He is allowed to detain people, issue fines and even arrest a passenger."
6. In case of emergency
"If the oxygen masks drop down, you only have about 15 minutes of oxygen to get the plane down. However, that's more than enough time for the pilot to get to a lower altitude where he can breathe normally."
"It turns out that 15 minutes is the FAA minimum standard. Not all flight attendants tell you that: Most oxygen generation systems through a chemical reaction can cause a burning smell in the cabin, but this is normal and to be expected."
"The air you breathe on an airplane is actually compressed air bled from the engines. Most (25% to 50%) is forced into the turbines, the rest for passengers. The air exits the airplane through a small hole in the rear fuselage."
7. Airplanes are allowed to fly slightly crooked.
Neither the pilot nor the flight attendant will tell you about this: “There is a huge list of things that may not be on the plane, but at the same time it will be allowed to fly.”
"This is called a Minimum Equipment List (MEL). Paradoxically, it is a list of what can be broken or damaged on board an aircraft while it is still airworthy. It should be noted that the aircraft's operating limitations change in this way "to respond to broken parts. For example, if some navigation lights are broken, the aircraft can only be used during daylight hours."
8. Travel bonuses
"I work in Revenue Management for an airline. On average, a flight attendant told me in secret, the cheapest time to buy a ticket is Tuesday afternoon. The cheapest time to fly is Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday. This applies to flights to the USA in my experience ".
"When drinks are being served down the aisle, you can ask for a full glass instead of a tiny cup filled mostly with ice."
"Flight attendants say they have a list of who's who and what seat they're in. As well as a list of frequent fliers. Or if they're employees or their families or friends. That's why you'll see them more rude with someone or more flexible for some others."
9. Luggage
"Small American low-cost airlines have RFID tags on luggage. It's important for the scanners to remove all the old tags. In this case, the luggage is tracked in real time. It's not 100% effective, but it works pretty well."
"My partner worked for Delta for 4 years as one of the guys who loaded and unloaded luggage. Nothing in your luggage is secure. If something is opened by accident, things will just be [expletive] stuffed back haphazardly. They throw suitcases , like volleyballs. TSA is a lie. Many decisions about loading or reassigning flights, etc. are made at the discretion of the employees."
10. They know when you're trying to join the Mile High Club
"It's usually a long line of people waiting to use the bathroom that gives you away, and nine times out of 10, it's the passenger who asks the flight attendants to intervene. Strictly speaking, it's not against the law to join Mile High Club. But it's against the law to disobey crew members' commands. But if a flight attendant tells you that you should stop doing what you're doing by all means, stop! Otherwise, you'll have a very uncomfortable conversation when you meet your half of the cell."
