Memory Lapse

I couldn't but help admit last week that my memory is starting to fail me, and the realisation that a Moleskine notebook and pen are not just fashion accessories anymore. No sooner had I tried to recall, unsuccessfully, what I had promised myself I would do only moments earlier, I was comforted by the fact that there may be someone out there with a worse memory than mine. It also coincided with a newspaper article citing jet lag as the biggest perpetrator of memory loss.

Last week, returning from JFK, and the associated roughness with such a strong tailwind, no one managed to sleep in the almost record 5 hour 40 minute flight time. Our early arrival at Heathrow prevented us from taxing onto a stand immediately, so we sat on a disused taxiway for an hour, and, as it was the first time the passengers had experienced stillness all night, most of them fell to sleep. We eventually pulled on to our stand, exhausted, and after completing our cockpit checks and filling in the prerequisite paperwork, stood at the now empty bar whilst the cabin crew did their security checks, once the passengers had disembarked. It was therefore with great amusement that one of the cabin crew approached, holding a Business Class passenger’s suit trousers, jacket and shoes, that she had found behind one of the seats We wondered at what particular meeting during the day would he realise that he was still wearing his airline issue sleep suit and socks !

Still chuckling as I got to the car park. Then had to make a telephone call to our engineers office to ask them to retrieve my sunglasses that I had left in the flight deck.