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A. emergency B. exactly C. fortunately D. heading E. indecisive F. instructions G. obvious H. room l. surprisingly J. testing K. underwater |
It Really Happened to Me!
A few minutes after take-off there was a loud explosion. I was in seat 10F next to the exit. Everybody gasped and there were a few screams. Then, , it went very quiet-everyone was assessing the situation.
It soon became we weren't going back to LaGuardia Airport, we were for the water. I started thinking this was it. Then I heard the announcement. "This is the captain, brace for impact," and everything suddenly got very clear. I had to stop thinking about death and start thinking about what I was going to do once the pilot landed in the water. "You sat in this seat," I thought," you've got to get this door open. "
At about 300 feet, I started reading the . There were six steps, and I read them two or three times, myself on each step and trying to imagine myself opening the door. Suddenly, we hit the water. My first thought was, "This plane is sinking, we have to get everybody off as soon as possible."
Someone next to me was trying to pull the door in and I said, "No, it's got to go out. ", I'd just read that. I managed to get the door open and I grabbed the hand of a woman sitting next to me. We walked out onto the wing, which was sinking lower and lower. We walked as far along as we could to make for other people. Everyone was helping each other. It was freezing, and nobody had a jacket. Some people were to their waists.
It felt like half an hour before we saw the first ferry. Fortunately, everyone had survived the crash.
I got through it by following the directions: get the door open, throw the door out, figure out if you're sinking. I just kept on doing that until I reached solid ground. Only then did I go into the men's room and cry for a few minutes.
