Consequences Unforeseen

Hong Kong June 14th 1991....Hello Robin

Hong Kong June 14th 1991 ….. Hello Robin

 Kai Tak Airport welcomed the dawn on the morning of June 14th the same as it had for every morning since 1925. It lay back like a whore on a water bed. Its runway and main concourse ran well out into the Hong Kong waterways. Since water did indeed separate its two parted legs as well as nestling around its perimeter, pilots had long ago christened Kai Tak as ‘the mother of all whore airports.’

 Pilots faced a dangerous approach every time their duties brought them here. Day or night, calm or stormy this bitch of an airport had claimed many good aircraft and killed hundreds of people over the years.

 Manual control of the aircraft was required to avoid the myriad skyscrapers surrounding the flight path. Special training was mandatory to be able to execute an almost fighter plane turn when a checkerboard landmark over Kowloon Tsai Park was reached. This maneuver became known amongst pilots as “The Hong Kong Turn,” like it was some sexy dance move they had learned in one of the nightclubs in Lan Kwai Fong.

 Bill Douglas loved the entire landing process. He never tired of it no matter how many times he visited the city. He considered to be one of Hong Kong’s charms and never failed to amuse him. This morning was no different as he sat in the co pilot’s seat and urged his “driver’ as he nicknamed, him into a much faster and tighter turn than prescribed in the flight manual.

 He slept the entire flight until then, the lack of sleep and the stress of the past few days finally catching up to him. Now as the fast and maneuverable little jet danced under the driver’s skill, Bill was wide awake and itching to take control of the plane.

 He smiled as the Hong Kong Turn approached and looked over at his pilot, caught his eye and acknowledged the wink he received with a wink of his own.

 The plane took the sudden turn event like the pro she was, never seeming to feel the strain of the turn and the proximity of the buildings on either side. Bill glanced out the left hand window to see people standing on their verandas or sitting on window ledges 30 and 40 stories high. They waved and applauded the skill of the pilot like they were at some air show. Even at this hour of the morning the sight of aircraft in peril drew them from their beds.

 The truth was that it was impossible to sleep at that time of day no matter how long you had lived there. Planes were landing and taking off less than two minutes apart at all times of the daylight hours. Only at night was their any respite. And even then it was only a slightly reduced schedule.

 The airport concourse and terminal was directly in tune with the outside world. The clamor and bustle evident on the streets of Kowloon were mirrored both outside and inside the main buildings.

 Private aircraft were guided into an exclusive apron area and limo’s lined the tarmac and concrete aprons. Still a ‘British City’ the passport and customs formalities were dealt with at the plane steps. In Douglas’s case they official didn’t even glance at the proffered passport and had waved a car forward before the forward door opened.

 The Hilton Hotel please,” Bill said respectfully. “And take your time too please, drive me around for a while and give me the full tourist treatment.” Bill chuckled to himself and slipped the driver a hundred U.S. dollar bill. “That will keep you smiling, I’m sure,” he said smiling at the eyes in the rear view mirror.

 The slow nodding head and crinkling in the eyes were confirmation enough. Bill reached forward, opened the fridge and grabbed a Tsing Tau beer, opened it swiftly on the door opener and gulped it down in two swallows.

This got an open laugh from the driver and a bigger one when Bill reached in to the fridge again, opened another two bottles and handed one through the hatch to the driver.