A plane climbing into the evening sky
Over the Arabian desert
Passengers settled into their seats
Flight cruising at thirty thousand feet
Relaxed passengers watching movies
some are sleeping, some chatting
Inside the cockpit, the captain in his action
Sudden chaos, scene cuts rapidly
Warning alarm, violent movements
Control yokes moved, altitude dropped
Aircraft plunges fourteen thousand feet
Passengers scream, drink carts rattle
Oxygen masks dropped, started swinging
Cabin lights flickered
What\'s happening?
\"Hold on!\" We\'re falling! Many believed
Their final moments they witnessed
A jetliner with one hundred seventy-four souls
is plunging toward the desert below, that minute
might have been the longest in their lives.
Something was amiss; the cockpit was tense
Co-pilot unleashes terror and attacks
the Captain in the cockpit to bump him off
The co-pilot plotted an act of massacre
To make the plane hit and kill all passengers
The captain was brave, a valiant
Injured, bleeding, still reined in the attacker
And fought his way to the cockpit door.
Men run toward the cockpit.
Fear turned into determination.
A violent struggle follows
Hands pulling, bodies colliding.
A few brave passengers subdued the attacker
Off-duty pilots travelling as passengers
Stepped forward to regain control of the aircraft
Headed for landing and the wheels touch down.
Against all bizarre odds, the aircraft lands safely.
Then came the sighs, tears and prayers of gratitude
Passengers who looked into the face of death
now live to tell the tale.
…………Narayan Gadagkar