MEMORY OF ARRIVAL IN CUSCO WERE WE SHOT DOWN 1978
Today’s MEMORY also forms a part of today’s STORY. They are intertwined and form a part of each other. Again the setting is Peru and this time on the occasion of my first visit to the home of the Inca and the Quechua people of the Andes. Deysi and I had embarked on a late honeymoon trip to discover and investigate Cusco and the famous nearby ruins of Machu Picchu in the Andes.
My first vivid memory was approaching Cusco by air directly thru the dense cloud and fog that surrounds the mountains in this area for much of the time. I was peering intently out of the window and could see nothing, nada and zippo. All of the sudden the clouds parted and we went careening between a gap in two enormous mountains. My heart leapt to my throat and I was riveted. We passed thru this gap and then fell out of the air like a rock!
I was pretty much “focused” at this point. The airstrip came into view as we descended “fast”. We hit it with a screech of tires and raced down the runway, breaks full on and me pushing hard on the break pedal under my seat. Somehow, We managed to stop and make a turn. We had stopped just short of a vertical drop from the runway over the city of Cusco. The city was laid out below us and was a magnificent sight. My thoughts went to “thank god for good brakes!”. From this moment, my arrival in Cusco has been burned into my memory.
4 Comments
Clif
Great description Jimbo! I too remember making that approach when Gladys and I flew to Cusco. My hair colour was a medium brown as we started our blind decent (totally instrument approach). It was just as you described – bursting out on final and landing hard, with smoking brakes. White hair is not that bad! Finding a laundry service was an immediate concern.
Those old DC8s were built, and they left lasting impressions!
jeheald
I just read this again. Very funny description Clif
Deysi
Great story
Was that the time when the plane had to go back to the airport 10 minutes into the flight. ?
Ange
This is why I always get the window seat! I always feel so much excitement when my plane is arriving at a new destination…