Passenger Tales

When I was young we used to ride the military cargo plane C130 to come here to Manila from Cebu during vacations then when vacation was over, back to Cebu. May parents worked here in Manila while we studied in Cebu. Since commercial airline fares, there was only PAL before, were more than we could afford, we had to find another alternative. My mother was working for a bank in Villamor Airbase that time and their clients were military personnel and they told her about the cargo plane. So during the start of summer vacations we would already pack up our bags and wait for the call from a friendly military captain who would assist us in boarding the military plane. Riding the C130 was always an adventure. We didn’t know when the captain would call so we were always ready to leave at a moment’s notice. When we got the call it didn’t mean that we’d be able to board the plane. I can’t count the times when had to go back home because we weren’t able to catch a ride. It was only when we were airborne that we could breathe easily and looked forward to arriving at our destination. Sometimes we had to wait for a long time at the airbase for the plane and sometimes we barely had time to catch our breath before we were ushered aboard. Usually we didn’t have to line up to board like the others, we just waited at the sides then the captain would motion to us to board.

There were no chairs aboard the plane only cargoes. If we were lucky, we could sit on the floor of the plane but if the flight was jam-packed, then we remained standing for the whole duration of the flight. More often than not, I always felt like a sardine in a can because of the press of bodies inside the plane. There were planes with strong aircondition system and there were planes where I felt like a cloud because of the deluge of sweat pouring out of my body. I can remember an instance when the plane was so full that when the plane took off or landed, somebody would shout for us to move to the back, then we would all shuffle to the back. Then there will be another shout for us to move front and all of us would move forward again. This was to help the plane take off or land. We did not need to hold on to something because the press of bodies kept us upright. There was barely a space for us breathe. It was like LRT during rush hour. I always felt relieved as always a reli off the plane.

I remember my aunt, she was also a C130 passenger once upon a time, telling me that one time she overheard a conversation between two male passengers. One passenger was telling the other, “Safe na safe tong C130 kc nakakabilly land.” It was quite a while before she realized that he meant “belly-land.” Hehehe, Mabuhi mga Bisdak!

Despite the inconveniences, I remember with fondness my adventures aboard the C130. I was lucky that I got to experience them once upon a time. I guess there are advantages to being disadvantaged. Next time I’ll feature some of my memorable rides here.