GROUNDED

There was something else in the air that night which made usfeel that the flight we had just operated was somehow significant. Whether itwas anticipation of our impending doom or just a realisation that a tidal wavewas rushing towards us and we were trapped on the beach, unable to escape itsinevitability, I will never know, but ultimately, although I did not know it atthe time, this was a very significant flight for me because it turned out to bethe last flight in eleven years at my airline, in a career spanning more thanthirty years and five different bases. The fact that there are still fewer than 500 female airlinecaptains in the world today is part of the reason that I wanted to tell mystory. I have a voice, it is my responsibility to use it to benefitother people, I may be grounded, at the moment, but this isn't necessarily theend of my flying story, it never is when you fly, because flying is notsomething you do, flying is something you are.