It was some years ago and I was called on to fly some passengers from Port Elizabeth to a small lodge right on the border of South Africa and Botswana. My passengers were a young American couple with a small infant.

  We took off from PE and duly climbed to F110. Initially it seemed as if this was to be yet another lovely flight but things soon began to take on an ominous feel. The “scattered cloud” the weather office had lightly referred to was in fact a series of significant vertically developed clouds and the turbulence began getting worse and worse. Even though I was able to stay well clear of all cloud for the entire trip, the turbulence can only be described as extreme. I tried all levels from F110 right down to low-level, and the turbulence stuck with me like mud to a shoe. Using the autopilot was out of the question and the power setting alternated between full power and slamming the throttles back to idle in order to keep the speed within limits. There were times when the little baby was airborne, right near the ceiling of the aircraft. 

  The absolutely amazing thing is that this little baby slept solidly throughout the nightmarish trip. I, like all pilots I am sure, have experienced turbulence before but never for such a prolonged period, right across South Africa. It really was an unusual day and, on landing, I told my flustered passengers so.

  We stood on the deserted airfield, with the baby still sleeping solidly (this was a good baba), and tried to make contact with someone to come and collect the passengers. Nightfall was approaching and to the East of the airfield was without a doubt one of the biggest storms I have ever seen approaching. It was still some 15nm away but it had definitely crept closer since we had landed just 10 minutes previously.

  It started to rain. What to do? Do I wait for the vehicle to arrive to collect the passengers but then be grounded due to it being too dark to take-off? If I waited even five more minutes I would surely be grounded by the approaching storm and, by the time the storm passed, it would be too dark to take-off anyway! Decisions decisions!

  I voiced my concern to my friendly and understanding passengers. With a thick yankee drawl they both convinced me to immediately mount my trusty steed and get the hell outa there! I needed no more encouragement.

  I was quickly airborne and turned the aircraft away from the approaching storm. I then held onto my hat as I bounced and shook all the way back to Port Elizabeth. Shew! Was this turbulence never going to let up! I finally put the aircraft and my rattled bones on the ground in PE that night and went home for a well-deserved snort.

  The next morning, I was getting on with my day, considering just what a good job I hade done the previous day when my telephone rang. The boss wanted to know just what the heck I done the previous day. Huh? What was he on about?

  It turns out that my American friends were most unimpressed that they had to stand in a raging downpour, with a small baby, when they could have at least had an aircraft to sit in had I stayed. Well jeez! It was they who had encouraged me to get the hell out of there at speed due to the fact that they were about to be stuck with me for the night if I did not act quickly. In fact, I wouldn’t have minded at all if I had had to stay as lodges and me go together quite well, thank you very much. Also, they had assured me that the driver was on his way as they had just spoken to him on the telephone. The lodge was right nearby.

  Luckily, I had an understanding boss as the whole matter was left right there but the incident does leave some unanswered questions. In the preceding scenario I had two choices; stay or go. To stay would have been the better choice as my passengers would have remained dry and I would have had a smoother, and therefore safer, flight back to home base. I would have had a pleasant stay in an expensive lodge.

  On the down side, my passengers may have felt inclined to keep me company that evening, they would have incurred more costs, and the aircraft would have been unavailable for another charter the next morning. Either way I would have had unhappy passengers. This was one of those lose/lose situations. Either way, the pilot was wrong. Mmmm. It’s a tough life but somebody’s got to do it.

  I’m sure the baby enjoyed it though.