Last plane for the day

After snapping the security card, finishing my book, and getting hit a dozen times by people in the aisle (this is NOT what smart travelers do :), I finally talked with the people next to me, hoping to practice some Espanol that I could use for the next couple of days!

Turns out they were from Belgium, on holiday to Barcelona. We chatted for a bit until the woman grabbed her boyfriend, dug her nails in and started to cry. This was during our conversation. Since I was mid-sentence, I paused and asked what was wrong. She couldn't speak. Her boyfriend looked at me and said "Descending". I hadn't even noticed.

I continued the conversation with them, hoping it would distract her for a bit. She seemed to calm down and then we really got into our discussion. The next thing I knew, we hit the ground. Um, we hit the ground HARD. Like, a collective gasp from all sitting on the plane...

I figured it was a rookie pilot, you get what you pay for, etc. etc. It didn't seem like a big deal to me, plus it was dark. I got off the plane and didn't think twice about it - until Jenny stopped me, made me turn around, and I snapped a picture before being escorted into the airport -

YUP - 'dem were fire engines, lights on and just at a safe distance from our plane... hard to make out in the picture but notice right under the staircase, the image behind the plane...