We boarded as normal in Singapore, and
after take-off it was apparent that it was hot – very hot. We
didn't seem to be going anywhere when the captain announced that
there was a problem with the air-con and they were attempting to fix
it. No more news for a while, but flight path showed we were
circling over Malaysia. I wondered if we were returning to
Singapore, but any avid Air Crash Investigation viewer knows that landing with a fully fueled plane is not ideal. And I didn’t think they
would dump fuel over land.
Anyhow, the aircon resumed, but then
they were worried about pressurisation, and were liaising with
Engineering. Later again, we were obviously in cruise, and we were
told that because of fuel usage, we would need a transit stop
somewhere to re-fuel.
Then the guessing began – Dubai?
Frankfurt? Or even Baku? Later they announced Frankfurt – transit
for an hour, and likely arrival in LHR about 2-3 hours late. One
(cabin) crew member told us that there needed to be some time for the
engines to cool down before they took off again.
Then there was hope that we could proceed to LHR, and Flight Path continued to show London. But just before Frankfurt, the captain announced that we would be stopping in Frankfurt. And Flight Path suddenly contained various combinations of "Flug".
So we did -we all stayed on board, fuel taken on, and then after an hour we were on our way again. there was new crew in the cockpit, but the cabin crew were the same, and if it was long for us, it was also long for them. And the plane was full - even first class I was told.
My connection was well and truly
missed, and I was not alone of course. People were waiting for us after the aero-bridge, and told me to go see Aer Lingus. Finally got on an 8:10pm flight, and arrived at hotel at 10pm. Just getting up time in Sydney!
But a good nights sleep will do wonders, and being Sunday, breakfast is available till 11 - so shall make good use of that.
