Flight Path

During a trip to India a few years ago I wrote down all the info around me while waiting in airports. While seated in the plane I watched a movie showing the path the plane was on with details about the aircraft, the countries over which the plane was flying, temperature, altitude and so on. I wrote down all the info in a notepad thinking after I reach home I could write about this and think in awe about the experience of being in the plane. Here is what I wrote. Since all the info was jotted down in a hurry because the info stayed in the screen only for a few seconds there may not be a lot of logic or accuracy. 

Flight Path

By Anna Joseph

I am waiting at M15. On the black leather seats passengers are sitting. Most of them look Indian. Since it is a flight to India. A man with a beard drinks something from a bottle and goes back to his phone. Outside is the tarmac and lights steady and blinking all the way to the horizon. A plane near the glass wall, outside. Trucks, vans, and jeeps driving around. Lots of blue lights. Distance to destination 2785 kilometers.

Gate M15 Boarding at 1900. Gate closes at 1940. Seat # 30 C Seating Zone E. Economy EK625655262

Flight # EK 236, Aircraft type B777-3000, Aircraft ID AEQA, Altitude 643 feet, outside temp -8 degree. Time to destination 12 hours 33 minutes, distance to destination 7603 miles, Altitude, 202 miles, outside air temp -9. 11652 kilometers. Time at destination 5 hours 51 minutes. Estimated time of arrival 18:28. As the plane travels from Chicago to Dubai the plane flies over the Atlantic ocean.

 Ankara, Bolu, Samsun, Black Sea, Diyar Bakar, Winisk, Godthab, Reykjanes, Amsterdam, Berlin, Kiev, Tbilisi, Tehran, Belgrade, Kharkov, Rostowna, Diyar Bakir, Angmassalich, Lillehammer, Altitude-35 000 feet. Airspeed in knots. Kayserri, Kirsehir. Time in Male 17 08; Time in Dhaka 18 08. Mach-ground speed- airspeed, kible compass, 1360 miles. Tashkent, Kabul, Algiers, Sofia. The map of the earth. The earth a sphere. Green and brown plains. The black sea. Around the earth a luminous blue light. Behind this the dark black glowing background. Dubai, Los Angeles, Sydney, Sao Paolo. Another picture of the earth-- a milky black swathed in light that is liquid that floats over and around it. Qibla compass, ASR time until prayer. Local time at present position. Anchorage, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Honiara, Apia, Belgrade, Alexandria, and Algiers at the edge of the earth.

Godthaab, Angmassallik, Belgrade, Tabriz. The picture of another close up of the land. The green and brown  uneven surface. Little pools of water bodies criss crossing the green and brown landscape. And the big black sea. The globe comes into perspective. Moving away from me. Growing smaller in the expanse of the blackness dotted with white specs. Three panels. LA, Sydney, Sao Paolo. The world map in white and red. Below a glowing globe. The current time in these three places.

In Dubai airport I rush through security to arrive at the right gate. Boarding starts at 2100. Gate closes at 2125. Flight #EK 532. Local time at present position 2.43. Outside air temperature 20 degree C. Distance to Kochi 1730 miles.

Local time in destination. Local time at present position 2 43. Outside air temperature 20 degree C. Distance to kochi 1730 miles. Aircraft type B77730WER, altitude 22 feet, outside temp 21 degree C. Time to destination 3 hours 24 minutes. Distance to destination 1994 m. Time at destination 23.21 hours. Estimated time of arrival 2 45. Time to kochi 3 hours 24 minutes. Places on the map Jeddah, Sanaa, Kuwait. Distance to Kochi 2785 kilometers. Muscat, Faisalabad, karachi, Mumbai, New Delhi,  Hyderabad, Kolkota, Chennai, Mali, Colombo.