Pilots are trained to deal with many types of situations when flying. Hypoxia is one of them – when a plane loses compression (and therefore oxygen) )at high altitude, the effect on passengers and more importantly, the crew can be catastrophic. Air crew are trained to recognise the symptoms – loss of coordination, people turning blue and becoming unresponsive.
Of course, pilots hope never to observe these symptoms in flight. And they probably wouldn’t expect to see them on the ground either. But that was exactly the sight to be seen on board the early Aer Arann flight from Galway to Dublin last week. It wasn’t a lack of oxygen causing the symptoms – it was a lack of bloody heat. It was frickkin freezing, so much so that when we arrived in Dublin on a nasty November morning, it felt warmer outside than inside the plane.
Galway City Council, in a motion that only confirms the utter uselessness of local government, passed a motion this week to ban “extraordinary rendition” at Galway airport. Presumably on the off chance that the CIA might decide to torture suspects by flying them from Dublin to Galway (I suppose they could always threaten to drive the suspects up to Tuam afterwards. Or worse, Dunmore). Or they could just put them in a nicely chilled airplane in Galway and drive around the airstrip for a while. It would certainly get their teeth chattering.
[As an added bonus, I’ve typed this post up in an equally chilly Irish Rail train carriage on the way to Galway. The heating hasn’t worked on this train ALL YEAR. When it comes to contempt for the customers, only a semi-state body can really do it right. ]