Waltzing with the jumbo jet

Capt. E. Chandrasekhar recently achieved what Hollywood Director Ron Howard did in 1995: falling under gravity. For Howard's space-age movie, Apollo 13, the entire crew of the film was subjected to free-fall aboard a flight. For the shots of weightlessness shown in the film, the crew fell under gravity repeatedly 13 times.

But in Capt.Chandrasekhar's case, it was a tryst with death. The Singapore bound Indian Airlines Airbus-300 plane, he was commanding on September 25, suddenly went out of control and was tossed around by bad weather for nearly five minutes. ``We saw death at close quarters. Another four seconds, we would have plunged into the Indian ocean.'' The ace pilot reconstructs the strange mishap in a conversation with T. S. Shankar.

FLYING HIGH is always invigorating and adventurous. But, in Capt. Chandrasekshar's case, both these elements have always been in excess supply.

In 1982, when he was flying cross-country sortie in a Pushpak aircraft, a faulty fuel gauge tricked him into danger. With an empty tank, he glided to safety all the way from Kancheepuram, landing at the IAF Tambaram air-base.

Next year, he was the Duty Manager at the old international airport, Meenambakkam, when a bomb seared through the building killing 30 persons. He was in the thick of action during the following days, which were marked by rescue operations and investigations.

But the September incident has more drama and human interest. The aircraft was airborne for about 30 minutes when it went out of control. The flight that was heading for Singapore, suddenly changed track and started nose-diving. ``We were trying to pull up, but the jet was not listening to our commands. We were even unable to look at the instrument panel as the aircraft was in absolute midair chaos.''

The passengers too saw death in close quarters. They felt weightless and were tossed around. Many went and hit the roof of the aircraft and suffered injuries. The pilot, who graduated from the Madras Flying Club in 1980 and is credited with 7,600 hours of flying, says it was the presence of mind of the crew and the good performance of the engine helped to steer the flight back to safety.

``Always think positive: that is my message,'' he says addressing aspiring pilots. ``Perseverance and grit will pay rich dividends.''

To be at the controls in the company of joy stick is always relished by Capt.Chandrasekhar. And flying the good old Pushpak is always his favourite. `` The charm of flying the Pushpak never fades.''

But he apprehends that modern technology might take away the pleasure of flying. With the computer controls and ``Fly By Wire'' technologies pilots have become ``cockpit managers''.

``We will have to carry out our commands as per stipulated aircraft manual approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Every action has to be planned and executed meticulously. Split second decisions play a crucial role.'' Though he is unshaken despite the challenging situations he went through, the midair weightless dance of his aircraft in September has changed his life forever. ``It was a rebirth for me. That was the day I was born again.''

And now on, he says that September 25 is his birth day. And he changed his Zodiac sign from Gemini to Libra.

Truly, born again.

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