HAVE OVER 30 STAMPS IN PASSPORT(S)
Muhammad Ali
San Francisco, CA– Having flown a vast number of foreign airlines in many jaunts around the globe, no airline will ever rank lower than Air China which is the official Chinese airline. The reason why I am bringing this up is that the missing Malaysian Airliner, a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 simply vanishes from the sky sans even a clue with a planeload of mainly Chinese nationals as the government in Malaysia is not playing dumb, they are dumb.
PRE-9-11 SECURITY WAS NON EXISTENT
It was 1993, pre 9-11 and airline security was lax, especially on non American flights. On our first trip to China in 1993, where I aired “Ring Talk Worldwide” from Beijing and did the first ever boxing TV broadcast from China dubbed, “The Brawl At The Wall” which was topped by a WBO title fight between champion Leonzar Barber and Mike Sedillo.
ALI, LONNIE & PEDRO IN EXECUTIVE CLASS
With our seats turned into beds, Muhammad Ali, wife Lonnie, myself and others were somewhere over the Pacific ocean and the “rush” of being with Ali would not allow me to sleep. That being said, I opened up the unlocked door to the cockpit and almost s*it in my pants. Why? Because all three men who were supposed to be flying the plane were instead sound asleep!
IRATE PEDRO WOKE LONNIE ALI UP
Not knowing what to do, I went and woke up Ali’s wife Lonnie. I told the entire crew was asleep, as was the backup crew who were asleep in another part of the plane. Looking back, Lonnie didn’t believe it. So I convinced her to come with me to the cabin door and see for herself. Much like me, Mrs. Ali was stunned. That’s when I went and got promoter Harold Smith. He was in First Class and didn’t think I was being truthful, turning away in an attempt to brush me off.
COME SEE FOR YOURSELF!
Harold rarely sleeps and when he does it is lights out! I had to raise my voice to get Harold up from what seemed like a coma-like state. When I told him Lonnie saw the guys, that all three were sleeping, he got up without his Hollywood smile, more like a scowl. Bringing him to the Executive cabin, I opened the door and Larry, Curly & Moe were still out cold. One of the smartest men I’ve ever met in earthly tenure, Smith was perplexed.
WAKING EVERYBODY BUT THE CREW FREAKING OUT!
Having had knowledge of this potential flight to death for some ten minutes now, I was having a panic attack and throwing a fit at the same time. Smith closed the cabin door on the sleeping crew as the near genius looked dumbfounded. That’s when I reopened the door and yelled, “You mother f***ers better wake up.” That loud outburst got one guy to go from a left lean to a right lean in the navigator’s seat, but nobody woke up.
NEARLY ATTACKED THE CREW
I wasn’t about to die, nor was I going to let the 200 or so people with me fall out of the sky either. Getting louder, Smith was still in a medically induced stooper from a sleeping pill, watched as I forced way into the cockpit screaming obscenities, actually put hands on the navigator, who thought we were going to take over the plane.
FEMALE FLIGHT ATTENDANT WASN’T SHOCKED
At that point, a flight attendant who spoke English and heard the commotion came running. She at first accused me of breaching the cockpit until she saw that the Three Blind Mice were flying the plane in auto pilot. Unfazed, she only woke them up because Smith, who had began to clear his head realized we were in peril persisted as she said, “Don’t worry.” The crew was awoken and cussed out by me as Smith tried to get me to quiet down. Well, I didn’t quiet down until the backup crew was called up to take over the plane.
DOG FOOD AT 35,000 FEET!
As if the danger of the flight crew being asleep in the cockpit wasn’t enough, there was a long line outside of each of the plane’s restrooms. You see, anybody who ate the airline food in Coach class, I didn’t, had Diarrhea or other stomach issues. When the Chinese Police boarded the plane after we landed in Beijing, Harold tried to mute me as I went off on them, all the while not realizing I was now in the People’s Republic of China, meaning I had to calm down. When I saw the M-16 type rifles, I shut the puck up for a second before I let out my last verbal assault on the crew.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES WAS NUMERO UNO!
The next two time Smith took me to China, we flew Singapore Airlines, arguably the best airline with the finest flight attendants in the sky. They treated the Coach passengers, of which I was not, like they were in First Class with slippers, free booze, good food and the best bodies in the world of flight.
HEY, PLANES DON’T JUST GET LOST
While I was of the hope that the plane and it’s occupants were whisked off to some remote jungle location and that there would be some elaborate covert ransom paid for their release, that doesn’t appear to be what happened. But what did occur? Although I believe the US and Malaysian authorities know what took place, much like many other major events, say Private Jennifer Lynch heroically killing a bunch of the perceived enemy on the third day of the Iraq war, when she never even fired a gun! There’s more to this story then we will probably ever be told!
Pedro Fernandez