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Father David Morland is a Benedictine monk. When he found himself in a spot of bother on an aeroplane, he didn't have to call for help from on high...because he had his mother with him.
 Father David |
In 1986 Father David Morland decided to take a trip with his mother to see his brother, a diplomat in Burma. It turned out that the cheapest carrier was a Russian State airline. It was on the return journey that the problems began.
On their approach to Heathrow it became obvious that the bad weather would prevent them from landing. So they were diverted to Brussels. It was here that the "nightmare" began to unfold. The passengers were left sitting all day in the transit lounge without any information. They then set off for Stansted, but couldn't land and returned to Brussels. David says, "It was at that point something snapped".
David's mother passed away seven years ago at the age of 90. He describes her as "quite a redoubtable lady" who suffered from "a superiority complex". He continues, "She had a strong conviction that she would normally get what she wanted, especially where the authorities were concerned". There had been was an occasion in the 1930s when she had managed to persuade the driver of the Trans Siberian Express to set up a shower for her on the engine because she didn't like twelve days without any proper washing " ...and she only knew two words of Russian."
 The "redoubtable" Mrs Morland |
They decided that if they got off the plane, the airline would almost certainly leave them in the transit lounge all night. Fortuitously, they were travelling with a couple of lawyers who knew the rules. The airline, it appeared, were obliged to offer passengers a meal and a bed for the night.
David and his mother told the steward and the pilot that they weren't going to get off the aeroplane. This came as a bit of shock. He says, "Soviet airlines weren't used to such recalcitrant passengers".
But they were told by an official that the airport hotel was full. It seems that there were spaces for the Europeans and Americans, but not the Russians and Indians who needed visas to enter Belgium. However, solidarity was maintained. He says, "We felt rather sorry for the Russian and Indian families because they had a lot of small children and they were worn out".
They told the official that they were to find visas for everyone. About a half an hour later, the chief of immigration at the airport arrived and "sort of scattered visas like confetti". Finally, they left the aeroplane.
None of this put David off travelling with the same airline again.
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