Well, 3 February 2012 was an emotional day for all Hungarian aviation enthusiasts.
One of the pilots, Cpt. Csaba Demeter wrote an account of yesterday's events on his FB page (
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?s ... 0542920624) - translation by yours truly:
Dear Friends, Colleagues, my Second Family,
I feel unspeakable pain deep inside, and to this day I cannot believe this could happen. It did happen and it happened THIS way. For a very long time, I have wished and hoped for some kind of solution, but Friday morning I was woken by a phone call I refused to believe at first. THE COMPANY SHUT DOWN.
It must have been a terrible decision to make: IT’S OVER. I was tormented by bitter disappointment, anger and shock as I drove to the airport to empty my locker. By that time, the search was on for pilots to fly the 737s back to the lessor, the owner – obviously, everyone’s first reaction was “no way”. Why should we deliver the final blow to ourselves?????
Then thoughts started to clear up, important information were coming in, and I – we – decided to complete the flight.
But this was no ordinary flight.
We started gathering in the crew centre around 5 pm. Cracking jokes, glad to see each other, we were looking forward to the whole thing with excitement. Then we headed to the apron. Each of us took over the plane we were assigned to – the planes that must have been the prettiest aircraft for all of us with their blue nose and the most beautiful logo that has ever graced the tail of an airliner. We were not jolly anymore – nevertheless, our commitment to the job and organisation of the servicing made us forget about the feelings. However, as I glanced down the row of aircraft parked next to each other, I felt inside this was bad. Very bad.
Then we took off, one after another, saying our goodbyes, stressing the callsign before the flight number: MALÉV. MALÉV. It felt damn good.
The flight was smooth, we got some directs, 300-400NM directs – as if they knew this might have been the last chance to give us some extra help. Anyway, there was no schedule to stick to, there were no passengers, just the two of us. Captain and first officer. And the bird, the white bird with the blue nose.
We touched down in EINN around midnight, landing one after another, with nice long roll-outs as a tip of the hat to the past era. We stopped on taxiways and aprons, shut down the engines, packed our stuff, killed the lights, and our planes were engulfed by darkness. It was a terrible feeling, WE HAD TO LEAVE THEM THERE. We hoped we would receive some last minute call: COME HOME WITH THE PLANES – this was a mere dream or a bad joke. There was no call. They stayed. All of them.
We came home with a Dash, the retro livery HA-LQD. It’s a superb little plane with a fantastic crew. We pulled ourselves together, boarded the plane, but our mood was getting darker. We knew the direction leading to the runway. And we knew it wouldn’t be a pleasant sight, but each of us felt strong. At that point, some of us had been awake for 24 hours – but there and then, our exhaustion was the last thing on our minds. I looked out the window and I saw our birds. The lights of the surrounding buildings lined the Boeings’ silhouettes gracefully. The logos could not be seen in the dark – probably the way it was meant to be. =censored=. Tears were shed… I think, no one could keep the emotions inside. Taxiing out and taking off was a choking, throat-grabbing feeling. As if pieces of our hearts were torn out. “I CAN’ BELIEVE WE HAVE TO LEAVE THEM HERE”, how could this happen?
Well, it could. If I had to speak now, I wouldn’t be able to.
I was 12 when I decided I wanted to do this – that I wanted to do this HERE and I wanted to work with people like you. And I succeeded – it may not have lasted long, but I succeeded.
Thank you all for these unforgettable nine years! I’m happy to have been a part of the Hungarian National Airways,
MAgyar
LÉgiközlekedési
Vállalat.
I hope at some point in the future I will have the chance to work with you, next to you, TOGETHER in the airline industry, in a national airline.
Well, these are the thoughts inside my head right now – it will take a while until they go away. I’ve been awake for 29 hours straight, but I can’t sleep.
/malev.gif)
. Can feel the disappointement and the pain...
/reeve.gif)
