The Black Aeroplane
by Frederick Forsyth
Explanation/Summary
The author is piloting his Dakota aircraft over the French skies in the wee hours of the night. He is heading to his home in Britain where he plans to enjoy a holiday with his family. The stars are alight, and the moon is just pooping out from the eastern sky.
The plane flies past Paris.
The city lights of Paris became visible pointing to the fact that the plane was close to the city. The pilot called the French air traffic control to identify himself and inform that he was heading towards Britain.
The Paris air traffic controller answered back and gave a 12-degree course correction to the pilot. He did as suggested.
He reckoned that he would be in his home in England in time for breakfast. He felt elated as everything had gone fine that far.
The narrator sees a turbulent sky ahead.
After reaching a distance of 150 kilometers away from Pariis, he saw storm clouds ahead of him in the sky. The black clouds looked ominous. They were frighteningly humongous in size. The pilot knew he couldn’t get past the black mountain of cloud by flying over it, nor could he make a detour to skirt it, as he didn’t have enough fuel.
Going back to Paris was an option, but the thought of having a joyful family breakfast appeared to overwhelm him.
A foolhardy move to pierce through the black cloud.
He decided to take a risk and chose to pierce into the storm. Once inside the cloud, everything looked fully dark. He could see nothing outside through the window. The plane became unsteady in the air. More worryingly, the compass and all other instruments in the cockpit began to show erratic readings. The pilot sensed danger and decided to head back to Paris, but the air traffic controller there didn’t respond to his frantic calls. The radio became dead too. Now, he knew what danger lay ahead, as he flew with no navigational help.
A mysterious plane appears from nowhere.
Happily for him, he saw another plane flying by, quite close. The pilot of that plane waved his hand asking the author to follow him. It was a God-sent help, he felt. He began to trail the other plane.
The flight continued for about half an hour. The pilot wondered where he was being led to. There was not enough petrol in his plane. This made him nervous.
But, in minutes, the plane in the front began to descend. The pilot followed him too. In a few moments, he emerged out of the cloud, and could see the runway lights. He was near the airport, finally. He knew he could land now, and be out of danger.
He looked out to find the aeroplane that had guided him out of the cloud, but the black aeroplane was nowhere to be seen. He had vanished out of sight.
The escort plane had left no clue before vanishing.
The pilot went to the control room to inquire where he had landed, and where was the other aircraft that had guided him. The woman in the counter was clearly surprised. She said, there was no other aeroplane in the sky because of the cloud, and his was the only one.
Thinking about his escort, the pilot was clearly bewildered. He had no clue who, from where, and why the mysterious plane came to save him.
Thinking about the text
1. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?
Answer – The sky ahead looked heavily clouded and stormy. Flying under such conditions is fraught. But the narrator decided to fly through the hostile sky. This was the risk. He took the risk because he wanted to enjoy a nice breakfast with his family in Britain.
2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
Answer – Deep inside the black cloud the narrator’s plane encountered total darkness, and unsteady flying conditions. The flight became bumpy and most crucially, the compass and other instruments in the cockpit went haywire adding to the pilot’s anxiety.
3. Why did the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…”?
Answer – The flight on board the Dakota had given him a harrowing experience. He was so relieved to have landed safely. So, he felt not the least sorry for leaving behind the plane that had given him such a scare.
4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?
Answer – The airport had no traffic during the time because the sky around was stormy and dangerously cloudy. So, when she was asked about some other aircraft that was flying during that time, she was both puzzled and surprised.
5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
Answer – Some mysterious air craft appeared from nowhere, and escorted the narrator’s plane to a safe landing. Curiously, there was no trace of this plane. This is very intriguing.
Thinking about Language
‘Black’ has a variety of meanings in different contexts. For example:
(a) ‘I prefer black tea’ means ‘I prefer tea without milk’.
(b) ‘With increasing pollution the future of the world is black’ means ‘With increasing pollution the future of the world is very depressing/ without hope’.
Now, try to guess the meanings of the word ‘black’ in the sentences given below. Check the meanings in the dictionary and find out whether you have guessed right.
1. Go and have a bath; your hands and face are absolutely black. ________________
2. The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when the traffic light was green. ________________
3. The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes against humanity. __________________
4. Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter’s black comedy. ___________________
5. Sometimes shopkeepers store essential goods to create false scarcity and then sell these in black. ___________________
6. Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue. _______________________
Writing
Have you ever been alone or away from home during a thunderstorm? Narrate your experience in a paragraph.
Answer –