Dark Bilious Vapors

From Salon's Ask the Pilot feature (premium content; you'll have to view a short ad if you aren't a subscriber):

Another British Airways flight, this time in Lagos, Nigeria, roughly 10 years ago. The 747, as I remember it, is taxiing for takeoff one evening when a cockpit warning light flashes on, indicating that a lower deck cargo door has become unlatched. That's because a gang of daredevil thieves, riding on the roof of a stolen truck, have pulled alongside, opened the door, and are hauling out luggage and cargo. This, mind, you, while the plane is trundling down the tarmac toward the runway. Through the windows, aghast passengers can see the whole thing unfolding, their own suitcases being foisted away into the night.

Accounts of lawlessness at the Lagos airport (Murtala Mohammed International, if you need to know) are legendary, but this one, if it's true, wins the prize for sheer audacity.

Len on 05.03.04 @ 02:13 PM CST