| About 2xus | My Articles | My Blog | My Business | My Pictures | My Portals |
Prakash Subbarao's Blog
23rd September 2007
Angry Gods and screaming Aircraft
Nepal's aviation history is strongly linked to animals.
If you visit the website of Nepal Airlines (it's www.royalnepal-airlines.com but since the King is in the bad books of the people, the internal pages refer to the airline simply as Nepal Airlines), you will read about aircraft that used to land on a mere cow grazing place called Gaucharan in Kathmandu. There are tales that a pilot waiting to land there had to buzz the airfield several times to shoo the cows off it before landing!.
A visit the headquarters of the airline in Kathmandu will yield the interesting statue of a Yeti (the abominable snowman) holding aloft what appears to be a tray on which sits a bottle of acohol and a goblet. Hmmmm. Interesting!
Starting with DC-3 Dakota aircraft in 1953, the airline progressed smoothly into the jet age with the induction of a Boeing 727 in 1972. People would rush to their roof -tops to watch in awe as the sleek craft came screaming into the World Heritage Site Kathmandu Valley to land.
A Boeing 727 of Royal Nepal Airlines
I flew Royal Nepal Airlines several times. What impressed me most was the dedication with which the frail Nepali stewardesses pushed the drinks trolley into the cabin seconds after take-off, while the aircraft still in a steep climb. I don't remember what they served, I only remember taking what they handed out and drinking with gusto, an experience I have never had on any other airline. The stewardesses were lovely and the drinks flowed freely. I also remember landing drunk at Calcutta at 9 am one fine day after flying with them from Kathmandu. It was a feat that I have never repeated and I blame the excessive hospitality of those lovely Nepali lasses for my inebriation; the shorter the flight the faster the booze flows on this airline.
My positive memories of this airline have been somewhat jarred after reading a recent news report that the airlines Boeing 757 aircraft were giving constant trouble. The trouble was pinpointed to the electrical system. These problems often resulted in cancellations of flights (nothing's changed! This was the same case way back in 1976 when I first visited Nepal - I flew Royal Nepal for the first time then and until one saw the aircraft with one's own eyes, one wasn't sure of making the journey).
This airline, plagued by the above mentioned electrical troubles, decided to take a novel route to effect a long lasting solution. Apparently they did not try and contact the Boeing company in Seattle. Rather, they brainstormed internally as to what was the cause of the problem. Oriental mysticism prevailed over technology; they decided that Akash Bhairab, the Hindu God of sky protection, whose symbol is seen on the company's planes, was upset with them.
Akash Bhairab
The only way to appease the God was to slaughter two goats and the airline did just that, right in front of a Boeing 757 that had been cleared to depart for Hong Kong.
Liftoff, by the grace of the Sky God!
Why slaughter two goats rather than just one? Because the airline has two Boeing 757 - so one each was offered to Akash Bhairab to seek protection for each aircraft.
The airline said that after the ceremony the plane successfully completed the flight to Hong Kong. Presumably the electrical problems are also a thing of the past.
That's it till my next blog!
Stay tuned!
