Ian said:

Michael V said:

Ian said:

:)

I’ve flown Garuda once. I nearly died.

How did that happen?

Flight from Denpasar to Jakarta.

First, extended delay watching ground crew load the plane… rusty old cargo bay door stuck.. fix by bashing with forklift.

Eventually got airborne straight into huge thunderstorm.. only got wilder as the plane seemed to be struggling to gain altitude. Then quick descent into Jakarta.. plane bounced around all the landing gear a few times. Plane pulls up and all the passengers applaud.

My uncle was an avionics bloke at Brisbane airport. In the field since the early 1960s.

He had a rule: never fly with an airline where there was likely ‘to be a turban in the cockpit’. And especially never fly Garuda.