Wing and a prayer

It was a winter Sunday in 1983 above a seething Wellington sea when Robert Muldoon glanced up from The Economist magazine.

- Bernard Lagan

“Tell him to have another go,” the then prime minister told an RNZAF flight attendant as the old Andover aircraft's two propellers struggled to haul into the clouds. The pilot had abandoned a second landing attempt against a rollicking gale. Rain stung the trembling fuselage like buckshot.

The ashen passengers, a mix of press and Muldoon’s staff, looked queasily at each other. None dared countermand the PM. As the hapless flight attendant conveyed the prime minister's wish upfront, I imagine, the flight deck conversation went something like this: “He wants you to have another run at it, sir.”

“God, really? Then we'll see how much the dear leader wants to keep his lunch down.”

The Andover lurched around for a third attempt. With winds gusting ever higher, it see-sawed violently downward. An overhead baggage locker cracked open, spewing its contents. A fire extinguisher tore off a wall, careening onto the floor, the noise terrifying everybody.

We landed crazily on one wheel and skewered down the sodden tarmac to a halt. Muldoon never looked up from his