Scary Landing

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This is my first contribution. This is just a hobby, an off shoot of another hobby, traveling. We have been seriously bitten by the travel bug. This blog is primarily intended as a way of remembering, a virtual souvenir, a travelogue for family and close friends.

We were on our way to Iceland from Heathrow for our 2012 Christmas holiday. The weather was surprisingly fine half way across the North Sea, when we started to have several bumps and air pockets. The captain ordered the suspension of the food service, and we settled down waiting for the last part of the flight to be over. Everyone was watching the onboard movie when suddenly the captain announced that we have a slight problem, on landing our braking coefficient was 'rather low' and that we would have difficulty getting down at Keflavik.

We were told that the runway was snowed in and that they were trying to clear a runway for us. So we spent the next 45 orbiting the iced landscape, waiting for the snow ploughs to do their work, whilst at the same time getting rid of some extra fuel. Everyone was outwardly calm on the plane. I was joking with my family but my insides were a blizzard of the same intensity as the one blowing outside.

Soon it was time to land and although the snow was still billowing mightily outside, the Icelandair pilot knew what he was doing and brought the plane to a stop after what looked like an extra long landing.

We were glad we were on safely on the ground and did not mind that for some reason or other we had to walk from where the plane stopped at the end of the runway to the terminal. There must have been some problem with the wheels but the Icelandair pilot and crew were very professional and will forever have my gratitude to successfully landing in such atrocious weather.

Welcome to icy Iceland.

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