Dubai: British-Pakistani Shahzada Dawood, who is now presumed dead along with his son Suleman, years before had lived through a terrifying plane scare that left him fearing for his life, according to his wife Christine.
Shahzada Dawood along with his 19-year-old son Suleman and three others died when a submersible carrying people to the wreck of the Titanic imploded deep in the North Atlantic,
In 2019, the Pakistani tycoon’s wife Christine Dawood recalled the near-death incident in a blog post.
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The post, ‘Living With Anxiety,’ was shared on a website called Next Step Now.
Christine recalled how a flight they were about to board was cancelled and they were put on the next one.
“The start was uneventful and so was most of the cruising but just as the seatbelt signs came on to alert us to our imminent landing approach, the plane took a deep plunge,” Christine said of the incident.
Dead silence
“I later read that a plane doesn’t drop more than three to five metres during turbulence, but my stomach in that moment would beg to differ. The whole cabin let out one simultaneous cry, which turned to a whimper and then silence,” Christine recalled. “Dead silence.”
The plane plunged again, and shook left and right. I felt like a grain in a big bag of sand, or a boxer being soundly defeated — punched from all directions. I clutched my armrests, as if that would make a difference. I needed something to hold on to, something stable in a shaky metal tube thousands of feet above the ground.” she said.
Why she became a psychologist and coach
“One incident changed everything once again and made me take the path I’m on now,” she said, adding: “This is my story on why and how I became a psychologist and coach. It is personal, uncomfortable and overwhelming at times, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Christine said that in the midst of the terrifying experience, she decided she would never touch a cigarette again if they land safely.
“It went dark. Storm clouds amassed around us, immersing the cabin in a strange kind of twilight. It was not quite light and yet not fully dark. It engulfed us, teased us and breathed fear into some and bravery into others,” she wrote.
She added: “Shake left, shake right! My head hit the window. Then came an announcement. It was the captain telling us that he would try to land from a different angle. The engines roared and we gained height again.”
Christine revealed how the ordeal lasted a very long time, until they finally landed safely.
“The force of the thrust slowing the plane brought me back to reality. We had made it. We had survived. But I still couldn’t move. I still couldn’t comprehend. We were safely on the ground and yet my throat felt as if a noose was tightly around it. I felt a squeeze of my hand and heard somebody talking to me, but I was frozen still,” she said.
“It’s then that I realised that my life had changed and would never be the same again.”
