(Feels good to be back at this space to complete an earlier experience)

Disembarking from the Turkish Airliner and touching the tarmac at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on that fateful evening, the passengers heaved a sigh of relief.

Relief, for nothing happened mid-air nor on the emergency landing. But was that enough, sadly more harrowing experience were in store.

What happened? What was the problem? How long was it going to take to rectify the problem? When will flight take off again? The 123 passengers had endless questions.

Unfortunately, the officials of Turkish Airlines and their duty manager at Tehran had no answers.

To rub it up further, against international practice the passengers were not offered hotel accomodation and were asked to spend time at the lounge of the airport, rather an old military base converted to a place for some international aircrafts to take-off and land!

The reason behind that being the Iranian officials refusing temporary transit visas. Strange country, one felt. And it was time to use the little contacts that one had make use of the profession one was in.

After introduction with the pilot Pilot R Cecil, it was learnt that there was a problem with the left engine and the process would take no less that 10 hours as the spares would have to fly in from Istanbul.

That piece of information was useful in calming down the nerves of fellow passengers, but only for them to ask for more. They seemed to have handed over the responsibility of taking them out of Tehran to the few of us who were made to take the lead by the very nature of our jobs.

So the night was to be spent sleeping at the lounge, the snacks bar was opened for the passengers and what followed as almost like looting when riots break out. Some people are incorrigible...

Daybreak, more than 10 hours at Mehrabad Airport but there were no signs of leaving. Another round of chat with the Duty Manager of the Turkish Airlines Ahmed Hossain brought some god news. Flight to take off at 8 am local time.

Passengers hurried for the toilets, another rush hour.

8 am, inside the aircraft. A few silent prayers by the passengers and a many nervous souls were looking forward for the homeward bound flight. Momentarily, those doubts disappeared when the aircraft took off for the final destination. Somehow, somewhere down the line, deep inside the gut feel was that it was not over yet.

Forty five minutes into the flight, the most dreaded thing happened. The pilot made that announcement "We are heading back to Tehran again, another emergency landing. So please go back to your seats."

Furious would be an euphemism to describe the mood of the passengers. But what could they do?

Shortly after take off after the overnight unscheduled landing at Mehrabad, the aircraft was back to square one.

This time, the passengers were not ready to take things lying down. They were not ready to fly by the same aircraft and demanded that another aircraft be arranged for their onward journey. Also, they rejected offers for hotel accomodation.

Having managed to get the Indian High Commisson into the scene, this time the Turkish Airlines officials were ready ears to our concerns. The passengers were told a new aircraft would fly within three hours from Istanbul to complete the homeward bound journey.

In those over 17 hours, almost 120 new friends were made, people from different parts of the world--discussing how fate made us meet. Perhaps trying to take positives out from an ordeal.

And when the new aircraft from Istanbul finally arrived, it was time to bid goodbye to Mehrabad airport. The severity of the second emergency landing came to light when the passengers, now in the new plane, saw the crew from the old one waving to us. The left engine of the old aircraft was not to bee seen on the old plane!

The little Iranian gift that the Turkish Airlines officials gave us would serve as a reminder of what happened on that fateful day in May. It was an experience, not necessarily would like to be repeated, but definitely one to remember!