We left at 630am for Nadi Airport. Air Pacific flight FJ 911 9am was delayed whilst they fixed a technical fault, however we finally got in the air.
The pilot’s voice didn’t inspire confidence, with none of Chuck Yeager’s drawl that pilots the world over try to imitate, rather, in fact he sounded exactly like a nervous Apu, the Indian shop owner of the Kwik-E-Mart in the Simpsons TV series. Before we took off he would scurry down to the wing, in his ill fitting uniform, probably to look down to look at the dodgy engine. He didn’t seem to have, what Test Pilots, call the.......... Right Stuff.
You suspect their might be a problem when the flight attendants don't get out of the seat, and you still can see the sea - we are not high enough.
Then we had to turn aroud because of problem with the de-icing of the engine. Basically that means if go any higher the engine is going to freeze, and stop working.......not good.
11am Back at Nadi, and glad to be on the ground.
It was all too much for Louise, who is a nervous flyer at the best of times, was by now on the verge of a panic attack. Bear in mind this Fiji Flight 911 - not a good omen in the first place. I have to get off she told me. So, we went up the front and were allowed to disembark.
Here is a picture of the engineers fixing the engine back at Nadi (pictured above).
"This is the first time a Jumbo has come back. We had a shock when it came back". A employee at Nadi said.
Air Pacific were very good. They didn't make us feel uncomfortable at all, despite making them dig our bags out of the cargo hold.
We went back to the Radisson for the night. We secured a really good deal at the Sofitel for the remaining nights on Wotif.com, and will now be flying back on Virgin Pacifc on Sunday afternoon.
I checked the flight status of FJ 911 at 7.30pm - they still have not arrived at Sydney yet. Bear in mind everyone must of arrived at Nadi Airport at 7am in the morning. We don't feel to bad about missing the flight considering the delay, and that we purchased the ticket with frequent flyer miles.
We now get another four nights in Paradise.
