Autobiography

The 707 were relaying messages between us
and the tower.
‘Rome have cleared you to 8000 feet on a QNH
of 1020 and a heading of 180 degrees. On
reaching 8000 feet call Rome radar on 119.65,
if you have any problems return to this
frequency.’
With great relief we thanked speed bird zero
four for their help and wished them a safe
flight. Once we reached 8000 feet and well
above the mountains we contacted Rome who
picked us up on radar without the help of my
new equipment and we were given new
headings to get us back on course. But for that
half an hour we were out of contact and it was
hugely stressful. It transpired that when they
fitted the new equipment the connection had
not been made properly. It could have been
extremely unpleasant, and the engineers
received a severe reprimand. Although we had
taken up the wrong course, the moment they
received our squawk Rome should have seen
our error and changed our heading.
The near misses for Ralph and I, combined
with the loss of Mark and Stuart, all took their
toll and eventually I felt I needed a break from
flying.
But despite this, aviation continued to play a
hugely important part of my life through the
airline we founded called Gold Air; a business
that came about due to adversity.
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